rise: 




Class 

Book 

Copyright N"- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr 



The Christian Church 
Its Rise and Progress 



By H. M. Riggle 

Author of ''Man, His Present and Future," 

"The Sabbath and The Lord's Day," 

"Hell and Everlasting Punishment," 

"Christian Baptism," etc. 




GOSPEL TRUMPET COMPANY 
Anderson, Indiana, U. S. A. 




Copyright, 1912, 

by 

Gospel Trumpet Company. 



^" 



»QC:.A3J2412 



PREFACE. 

In presenting this work to the reading public, 
I think it proper to state that in its preparation I 
have not gleaned extensively from the archives 
of history, bnt have treated the subject more 
from a Scriptural than from a historical stand- 
point. There are other works that treat the 
subject historically, some presenting a narra- 
tive of the church, others a mere compilation of 
historical facts and evidences. 

The author has endeavored to unfold some 
of the grandest and most beautiful truths con- 
tained in Holy Writ. Questions that are agitat- 
ing the whole religious world have been treated. 
The church of God in all its magnificent splen- 
dor is portrayed in simple language. It is 
traced from its conception in the divine mind 
to its eternal home with God. Thus the reader 
is enabled to discern the church in its embryo 
state at the foundation of the world ; to trace it 
through the four thousand years during which 
it was ''a hidden mystery,'' ''not made known 
to the sons of men,'' except in the types and 
shadows of the law; to see it when, at the ad- 



4 PREFACE. 

vent of the Savior, it descended to earth as the 
heavenly Jerusalem, to be the golden city of a 
golden age and to become the light of the world, 
tlie joy of the earth; to follow it in its varied 
fortunes throughout all the centuries of the 
Christian era; and at last to behold it a blood- 
washed, white-robed throng dwelling in the eter- 
nal city of the new earth, that ^^ better" and 
' ' heavenly country. ' ' 

The book is really a Biblical trace of the 
church. With reference to the church, the Chris- 
tian dispensation is properly divided into four 
distinct minor ages— the morning-light age, the 
papal age, the Protestant age of sects, and the 
evening-light age. We are now living in the 
fourth epoch— the closing days of this world's 
history. The fulfilment of some of the most 
important prophecies of the Bible is upon us. 
The pen of inspiration has given us data by 
which to calculate our whereabouts in the stream 
of time. 

By the application of prophecy and revela- 
tion, I have endeavored to disclose the path of 
time and to trace the Christian church through- 
out the centuries of the Christian era. The sub- 
ject treated is comprehensive, but I have en- 



PREFACE. 5 

deavored to epitomize and present mncli truth 
briefly. 

The author has a deep sense of gratitude to 
God, who by his Holy Spirit has guided him, 
and whose sweet, comforting presence has been 
much felt in the preparation of this work. 

Believing that my humble efforts will not be 
fruitless, I now leave it in God's hand for the 
accomplishment of good. 

In Christian love, I am. 

Yours in the Master's service, 

H. M. Riggle. 

New Bethlehem, Pa., Jan. 2, 1911. 



CONTENTS. 

Preface , — 8 

Introduction 9 

Israel's Night. 17 

The Gospel Day Foretold 21 

The Morning Light is Breaking.... 23 

The Pristine Glory— The Ushering In of a Clear Day 27 

The Primitive Church 33 

The Divinity of the Church 33 

The Church is an Organic' Structure 40 

The Visibility of the Church 43 

Oneness of the Church 61 

Unity of the Church 59 

Complete Basis of Oneness. 69 

Not of the World 69 

In Christ Alone. 70 

The Name. 73 

The Discipline 80 

Sanctification 83 

Catholicity of the Church 90 

Exdusiveness of the Church 93 

Holiness of the Church 98 

Unchangeableness of the Church 106 

Indestructibility of the Church 112 

Perpetuity of the Church 116 

Figures in Which the New-Testament Church is Presented.. 121 

A Body 121 

A House 129 

A Household 137 

A Woman 139 

A City 147 

A Mountain. _ 153 



8 CONTENTS. 

The Primitive Church a Triumphant Church ^ 163 

Over Sin and Death 165 

Over Satan, the Prince of Darkness. 167 

Over Paganism under the Eoman Power 168 

The Government of the Church- 209 

Classification of the Primitive Ministry 213 

Humble Equality of the Apostolic Ministry 237 

The Great Apostasy Foretold. 253 

It Came Early in the Christian Era. ., 257 

The Falling Away _. 259 

The Eeign of Popery ^ 277 

The Dark Ages— Night 305 

The Length of the Papal Reign as Measured by Inspira- 
tion 307 

The Reformation 321 

Protestantism 327 

Sect-making 329 

The Church of God and Sects Contrasted 357 

A Cloudy Time 369 

Downfall of Spiritual Babylon 371 

God Calls His People Out 389 

The Evening Light 407 

A Pure Church Restored. ~ 409 

A World-wide Movement 421 

The Saints Will Have Universal Dominion. 445 

Gog and Magog; or, The Final Conflict 456 

The End of All False Religions and of Their Devotees 467 

The Eternal Home of the Church. 471 



INTEODUCTION. 

Tlie Bible record of the origin of man is un- 
surpassed by any other history of origins, 
either in ar.tless simplicity or in scientific ac- 
curacy. Miodern science has over and over 
again corroborated and confirmed the revealed 
account of the solidarity of the human family. 
Her best exponents have conceded the sublime 
fact that all men, notwithstanding their perplex- 
ing diversities, social, intellectual, and physical, 
must have originated from one single pair. In 
the similarity amongst ancient languages, philol- 
ogy has discovered historical monuments which 
prove not only that the different nations sprang 
from a common origin, but also that their fore- 
fathers must have gazed at the same sky, tilled 
the same soil, and lived under the same roof, 
and spoke the same language. 

How beautiful and simple the inspired record 
which reveals to us that God ''made of one 
every nation of men" (Acts 17: 26) ! Not only 
do we read that all men proceeded from one 
original pair, but the Book of God tells us that 
even the material substance of the woman was 
taken out of the man. This simple account un- 



10 INTRODUCTION. 

folds the sublime purpose of God, who is the 
God of order and whose nature and character 
is love. He loves harmony and peace, and there- 
fore he created the woman out of man— a part 
of himself— so that they twain might be one 
not only by relation and attachment but also by 
nature. Thus children bom of such union, 
where nothing but unity, harmony, and love 
could be expected, would of necessity love one 
another and live in harmony and peace, so that 
there would be only one great universal family 
in the whole world. But alas ! sin destroyed the 
harmony and sowed the bitter seed of enmity 
and jealousy even between the first two broth- 
ers. What followed is too sad for narration. 
Enmity and hatred, jealousy and envy, division 
and strife, have checkered the pages of the his- 
tory of the human family since the first inno- 
cent blood of a brother was shed by a brother 's 
impious hand. 

But the purpose of God in creation, though 
for a time thus obstructed, could never be frus- 
trated. True, the human family was rent asun- 
der by social, political, and religious factions, 
and seemingly became irreconcilably estranged 
from one another; but where sin abounded, 



INTRODUCTION. 11 

grace did much more abound. In due time 
Christ, by his vicarious suffering on the cross of 
Calvary, bridged the chasm between human 
hearts, ever abolishing the enmity, and thereby 
destroying the very seat of the trouble. He 
broke down the middle wall of partition and 
made both the Jews and the Gentiles one, and 
by the supernatural power of his cross created 
of the two a new man, thus making peace. He 
restored the broken harmony and reestablished 
unity on the divine and unshakable foundation 
of love. This new family or brotherhood is 
called ^'The Household of Cod," in which all 
the children have access to the Father through 
the one Spirit, and are built together for a habi- 
tation of God through the Spirit. Eph. 2 : 11-22. 
This unification of the dispersed human fam- 
ily and the gathering together of the scattered 
children of God was the manifest mission of the 
glorious incarnation of the Son of God (John 
11: 52), and this sublime, divine purpose seems 
to underlie the whole plan of salvation and is 
interwoven throughout the Inspired Record. Un- 
like the eminent philosophers and the renowned 
moral teachers of Greece and Rome that pre- 
ceded him, Jesus conceived from the beginning 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

of his mission the formation of a brotherhood 
of his disciples on the strong foundation of his 
divine personality as a leading factor recog- 
nized and confessed through the preaching of 
Ms gospel. Socrates and Plato taught ethics 
and philosophy, and made many disciples too; 
but neither of them conceived the idea of form- 
ing his disciples into a community or brother- 
hood. There was no solidarity among their fol- 
lowers. But Jesus of Nazareth, being imbued 
with the one-family idea of the Bible, revived 
the hidden purpose of God in restoring the 
broken unity and harmony of the human fam- 
ily. His was a mission as original as divine— 
original as regards human wisdom, divine as 
regards the inspired ideal. He was conscious 
of his mission when he claimed the august title 
of ^^The Light of the World" (John 8: 12) and 
announced that he had '^ other sheep" which 
were not of the Jewish fold, and that them also 
he must bring, so that there might be one fold 
and one shepherd (John 10:16). 

This mission was to be carried on after his 
death by his apostles, to whom the Holy Spirit 
revealed the long-forgotten mystery that the 
Gentiles were to be the fellow heirs and fellow 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

members of the body and fellow partakers of 
the promise in Christ Jesus through the gos- 
pel (Eph. 3:6). The early disciples caught the 
fire of their Master and began building upon 
his foundation. The result is the Christian ec- 
clesia of the New Testament, having one faith, 
one baptism, one Spirit, one Lord, and one God, 
and all one in matters pertaining to life and god- 
liness. This was realized, in the embryo, the 
original and eternal purpose of God in creation 
(Eph. 3: 11). Thus in Christ was the lost para- 
dise regained. 

Nor is this idea a stray thought in the Re- 
vealed Volume, a thought originated in the mind 
of some eccentric fanatic. The symbols and 
types are too numerous and the analogies too 
plain to be misunderstood. After the creation 
of the first family, when the natural relation 
and the ties of flesh and blood had given away 
to the inroads of the wild and unrnly nature of 
sin, God destroyed the whole world with a flood ; 
and by a remarkable coincidence, as it were, the 
only human survivors of the catastrophe con- 
sisted of a single family. This measure also 
failed to preserve the unity and harmony of the 
human race. Then God, so to speak, adopted 



14 INTEODUCTION ( 

a different plan. He chose Abraliam, a faith- 
ful man, desiring to establish through him one 
whole family again (Gen. 12 : 1-3 ; 18 : 18) . Later 
the Lord raised up another man to be a law- 
giver and a national leader, whom he instructed 
to Ijuild a sanctuary according to the pattern 
shown him by revelation. This was to serve 
as a bond of national unity. The erection of 
an altar on the other side of the river was 
condemned with great vehemence as violating 
the divine ideal of one people, one sanctuary, 
and one altar. Any possible occasion of divis- 
ion in the Cc p was not to be tolerated with in- 
difference (Josh. 22 : 11-34). This temple was de- 
signed to be a symbol of the people of God in- 
dwelt by his Holy Spirit. The symbols of the 
bride, the body, the fold, and the household all 
clearly indicate the same plan. To conceive di- 
vision and faction in the ecclesia as compatible 
with the divine purpose is to ignore the whole 
trend of revelation and to misinterpret the mind 
of God and his design for the highest good of 
man as revealed in His gracious dealings with 
humanity throughout the ages. 

But when the unsophisticated reader of the 
Bible looks around him for the Biblical ecclesia, 



INTEODUCION. 15 

the divine church, the household of Grod, his un- 
prepared mind is bewildered at the unpleasant 
sight of sects and divisions that have rent the 
people of God for centuries. The Biblical con- 
ception of one family and the sublime ideal of 
a loving brotherhood is all but lost in modem 
Christendom. Nor does the study of ecclesi- 
astical history help him very much. To him the 
existence of Christian sects is a strange phe- 
nomenon, deep-shrouded mystery. The crystal 
flow of the celestial river that was seen spark- 
ling down the granite bed as it was descending 
towards the plain seems entirely mi of sight. 
Instead there is a turbid stream, which now ap- 
pears on the surface, now disappears in the 
sand, and whose contents are a strange admix- 
ture of various impurities gathered from the 
soil of its banks. There is a sense in which the 
stream, though lost at times to human observa- 
tion, is still flowing underground ; but to regain 
its original purity the water must be percolated 
through an effective filter. 

To explain and unfold the divine plan and 
pattern, to elucidate the origin and develop- 
ment of the ecclesia, to trace its gradual degen- 
eration into corruption and its final reappear- 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

ance in glory— such are tlie objects of the fol- 
lowing pages. An honest effort has been made 
to render a sincere apology for the church of 
God and to explain some of the most perplexing 
questions of modem theology and ecclesiastical 
polity. 

We earnestly invoke the divine guidance and 
wisdom upon the reader, that he may under- 
stand the deep mystery of God revealed to his 
church by his Spirit. May the same Spirit that 
conceived the plan and developed it into the di- 
vine ecclesia reveal it to his people. Amen. 

John A. D. IQian. 

Anderson, Ind. 



The Christian Church 
Its Rise and Progress 



Israel's Night. 

As a result of the fall of man into sin back 
at the foundation of the world, Adam and Eve 
lost Paradise, holiness, eternal life, and the com- 
panionship of God, and reaped sorrow, misery, 
and death. Moreover, all their posterity fared 
the same result, and the whole world was en- 
shrouded in darkness and sin. In this period, 
we are told, ^^ death reigned"; that is, spiritual 
death, which came as a result of universal sin. 
Man stood in the attitude of a guilty violator 
of God's holy and infinite law, and hence was 
under an infinite penalty. Since the broken law 
was eternal, the penalty for its violation was 
eternal. The justice of God demanded that man 
suffer for his disobedience. God's immutability 
demanded that the penalty of his law be exe- 
cuted. To lift the penalty, he would have been 
obliged to abolish his law; but since that law 
was ^^holy, just, and good," he could not abol- 



18 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

ish it and yet be the God of law and order. Thus 
man seemed eternally and hopelessly lost. 

Bnt mercy rejoiced against judgment. The 
infinite love of God for lost humanity brought 
his infinite wisdom and knowledge into action. 
That wisdom, which is far beyond our compre- 
hension, yes, ' ' past finding out, ' ' schemed a way 
of escape, a plan of salvation. It was by pro- 
viding an atoning sacrifice in the person of his 
own Son. This secured deliverance from the 
awful penalty and made the salvation of a lost 
world possible. 

Long ages before that plan was fully revealed 
and opened to mankind in the coming of Mes- 
siah, the Lord cast its shadow upon earth. It 
takes a substance to make a shadow, and the 
substance must exist before the shadow. In this, 
the substance was the wonderful plan of salva- 
tion and redemption then hid in the wisdom and 
knowledge of God— a ^^ mystery hid from gen- 
erations and ages," hid in God, ^^kept secret 
since the world began"; a mystery ^^ which in 
other ages was not made known to the sons of 
men," but ^^now is made manifest" ^^in Christ 
Jesus our Lord." Its shadow was the law, its 
tabernacle, sacrifices, blood, and service. The 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 19 

^4aw was a shadow of good things to come." 
God selected the literal seed of Abraham— Is- 
rael— to be his chosen people. To them he de- 
livered the law and all the blessings of his king- 
dom in fignres and shadows. The giving of 
the law was the ushering in of a day of good 
things to Israel. In type, "thej all drank of 
that spiritual Rock"— Christ. That dispensa- 
tion and law had some ^^ glory" (2 Cor. 3:7- 
11). Yes, brilliant rays of light from heaven 
shone upon earth. Through priests and proph- 
ets man could converse with his Creator and 
make his desires known. This was a blessed 
privilege enjoyed by Israel; a day of prepara- 
tion for the ushering in of a still more glorious 
day. 

But that people, to whom God delivered the 
lively oracles, forsook the God of their fathers 
and, as a nation,, drifted into darkness and idola- 
try. This brought the wrath of God upon them, 
and he answered them no more through proph- 
ets. The last prophet through whom God defi- 
nitely spoke to Israel was Malachi. Then came 
an awful night of about four hundred years 
upon that favored people, in which no prophet's 
voice was heard. This was foretold by the 



20 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

prophet Micah as follows: ^^Thus saith the 
Lord concerning the prophets. . . . Therefore 
night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have 
a vision ; it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall 
not divine; and the sun shall go down over 
the prophets, and the day shall be dark over 
them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and 
the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all 
cover their lips; for there is no answer from 
God." Micah 3:5-7. Midnight darkness filled 
the earth. No prophet spoke ; there was no an- 
swer from God. This was the period from Mala- 
chi to the ministry of John the Baptist. Mjen 
sought in the darkness of that night to find the 
word of the Lord, but could not find it. Thus 
was the prophecy of Amos fulfilled: ''They 
shall run to and fro to seek the word of the 
Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall 
the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. ' ' . 
Amos 8 : 11, 12. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 21 

The Gospel Day Foretold. 

With prophetic eye the seers of old foresaw a 
better day— a day of salvation. That which 
they enjoyed in type and shadow was to reach 
the substance in Christ, who would usher in the 
most propitious age of grace and glory the 
world would ever see. Thus Isaiah foretold it : 
^^In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and 
in a day of salvation have I helped thee. ' ' Isa. 
49 : 8. Paul, after quoting this language of the 
prophet, makes the application. ^^ Behold, now 
is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of 
salvation.'' 2 Cor. 6:2. This great day of 
salvation was ushered in by the coming of Mes- 
siah to save the world ; and its end will be when 
Christ is revealed from heaven to judge the 
world. 

Since the beginning of time one long age has 
followed another, in which God ^ ' at sundry times 
and in divers manners in time past spake unto 
the fathers by the prophets," but in ^' these last 
days" hath '^spoken to us by his Son" (Heb. 
1:1, 2). These days, then, which go to make 
up the gospel age or day are the ^^last." This 
is why Paul denominates the gospel age *^the 



22 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

dispensation of the fulness of times" (Eph. 
1:10); that is, the dispensation when time is 
full. ^^ Little children, it is the last time. . . . 
We know that it [the present age] is the last 
time." 1 John 2 : 18. Time is a measured por- 
tion of duration. 

The gospel age is frequently in Scripture 
termed a day. The prophets in speaking of 
things that were to occur in the current dispen- 
sation said, ^^It shall come to pass in that day." 
They foretold the coming of Christ, the set- 
ting up of his everlasting kingdom, his glorious 
reign of peace, and the beauties of his great 
salvation. Even Abraham foresaw these things. 
As Jesus expressed it, ^^your father Abraham 
rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was 
glad." John 8:56. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 23 

The Morning Light is Breaking. 

While the world was shrouded in darkness, 
and no prophet's voice could be heard; while 
Israel, with a few individual exceptions, was 
engulfed in sin and idolatry, forsaken of God; 
while the then known world was under the rule 
of pagan Rome, and heathenism held sway in 
the hearts of men everywhere— suddenly there 
appeared '^one crying in the wilderness" and 
saying, ' ' Repent ye : for the kingdom of heaven 
is at hand. ' ' After four hundred long years of 
silence, a prophet appeared, yea, more than a 
prophet. John, the looked-for Elias, the har- 
binger of a new day, was now preparing the 
way for Messiah to begin his ministry. ' ' There 
was a man sent from God whose name was John. 
The same came for a witness, to bear witness 
of the light." John 1:6, 7. Of John and his 
work, the angel told Zacharias this : ^' And many 
of the children of Israel shall he turn to the 
Lord their God. And he shall go before him 
in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the 
hearts of the fathers to the children, and the 
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make 
ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 



24 THE GH[RISTIAN CHURCH: 

1:16, 17. Zacharias said of him, ^^And thou, 
child, shall be called the prophet of the High- 
est: for thou shalt go before the face of the 
Lord to prepare his ways ; to give knowledge of 
salvation unto his people by the remission of 
their sins." Luke 1:76, 77. 

This was the dawning of a new day, the 
breaking forth of earth's most glorious day— 
the day of salvation. The prophets foresaw 
this, and spoke of it as a clear morning. Isaiah 
foretold it in these words: ^^The burden of 
Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watch- 
man, what of the night? Watchman, what of 
the night? The watchman said, The morning 
cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, 
inquire ye : return, come. ' ' Isa. 21 : 11, 12. Du- 
mah signifies silence. This was the time of 
silence from Malachi to Christ. The inquirer 
asks, ^'What of the night?" namely. What time 
of night is it? The watchman cried, ^^The 
morning cometh." This morning was the 
clear morning of the Christian era. ^^For, be- 
hold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross 
darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise 
upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon 
thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 25 

and kings to the brightness of thy rising. ' ' Isa. 
60 : 2, 3. This time of darkness was the night 
of Judaism. But it was foreseen that the Lord 
would arise and that his glory would be seen. 
This refers to the ushering in of the better dis- 
pensation. The coming of Christ was to be a 
beautiful sunrise, and the Gentiles were to come 
to the brightness of his rising. ^^But unto you 
that fear my name shall the Sun of righteous- 
ness arise with healing in his wings; and ye 
shall go forth, and grow up as calves in the 
stall.'' Mai. 4:2. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 27 

The Pristine Glory — The Ushering in of a 
Clear Day. 

In fulfilment of these predictions, Christ came 
the Sun of righteousness, and ushered in a clear 
day. ^^ Weeping may endure for a night; but 
joy cometh in the morning. ' ' Nineteen centuries 
ago a babe was bom in the stable of an inn, in 
the Roman province of Judea. At this time 
Caesar Augustus w a s an absolute sovereign. 
With unlimited power, he ruled over three hun- 
dred millions of people, comprising the Roman 
empire. Such power no mortal ever swayed 
before. Little did this proud ruler of all the 
world then known dream, as he sat upon his 
throne in gorgeous apparel, that a new-born 
babe who was slumbering in a manger, in the 
town of Bethlehem, in far-oif Syria, and whose 
infant cries were mingled with the braying of 
donkeys, the lowing of cattle, and the bleating 
of goats —little, I say, did this mighty sovereign 
dream that this lowly infant was destined to es- 
tablish a religion and kingdom before which all 
tlie glory and power of the proud Caesars would 
fade away. But, dear reader, it was so. At 
the birth of that babe the bells of heaven rang 



28 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

and all the angels worshiped. The glad news 
was at once wafted from heaven to earth that 
this was the ^^ Savior, . . . Christ the Lord." 
Shepherds on the Judean hills heard the angels 
sing the glad refrain, ^' Glory to God in the 
highest. ' ' 

^^ Through the tender mercy of our God; 
whereby the day spring [snnrising, margin] 
from on high hath visited ns, to give light to 
them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of 
death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. ' ' 
Luke 1 : 78, 79. The advent of the Savior was 
a beautiful sunrising. ^^The people which sat 
in darkness saw great light ; and to them which 
sat in the region and shadow of death light is 
sprung up." Matt. 4:16. Christ himself was 
that light. He said, ^^I am the light of the 
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in 
darkness, but shall have the light of life." 
Christ was not the light of one nation only, Is- 
rael, but the light of "the world.'' Yes, he was 
the ^^ salvation" which God ^^hast prepared be- 
fore the face of all people; a light to lighten 
the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel" 
(Luke 2: 25-32). ^^For so hath the Lord com- 
manded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 29 

of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for sal- 
vation unto the ends of the earth." Acts 13: 
47. 

Surely this was a glad morning to the inhabi- 
tants of earth, who for long centuries had sat 
enshrouded in the night of sin. Brilliant, trans- 
plendent light broke forth in the earth, salva- 
tion waters began to flow, and thousands were 
made to rejoice in a Redeemer's love. They 
could say, ^^The night is far spent, the day is 
at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of 
darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ' ' 
Rom. 13 : 12. The gospel message was like ' ' a 
light that shineth in a dark place''; and as peo- 
ple accepted it, Christ entered into their life, 
like a beautiful ^' day-dawn" and ^^ day-star" 
(2 Pet. 1:19). Oh, how beautiful, clear, and 
bright was the dawning of the gospel day! 

The gospel of salvation that Christ preached 
penetrated the dark places of sin and idolatry, 
like sun-rays driving back the darkness of night. 
Wickedness in the hearts and lives of men gave 
way to grace and truth. Christ established his 
church. True holiness adorned her fair brow. 
Unity and purity were her chief characteristics. 
Of her it is said, ^^Thou art all fair, my love; 



30 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

there is no spot in thee/^ S. of Sol. 4: 7. And 
again, ^^My dove, my unde filed is but one/^ S. 
of Sol. 6 : 9. Unity and purity are inseparable ; 
one can not exist without the other. Holiness 
is the mainspring of all gospel truth. It is a 
golden thread which runs all through the New 
Testament. As long as the people of God pos- 
sessed true holiness, they were one and were 
fortified against all apostasy. We read of the 
believers assembled on the day of Pentecost, 
' ' They were all with one accord in one place. ' ' 
After the church had multiplied to thousands, 
''the multitude of them that believed were of 
one heart, and of one soul" (Acts 4: 32). The 
reason of this was that ''they were all filled 
with the Holy Ghost" and that "great grace 
was upon them all." Judgment went forth 
against sin with such authority that ' ' of the rest 
durst no man join himself ta them: but the peo- 
ple magnified them." "And great fear came 
upon all the church, and upon as many as heard 
these things." Acts 5: 11. "And by the hands 
of the apostles were many signs and wonders 
wrought among the people; (and they were all 
with one accord in Solomon 's porch. And of the 
rest durst no man join himself to them : but the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 31 

people magnified them. And believers were the 
more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men 
and women.) Insomuch that they*brought forth 
the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds 
and couches, that at the least the shadow of 
Peter passing by might overshadow some of 
them. There came also a multitude out of the 
cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing 
sick folks, and them which were vexed with un- 
clean spirits : and they were healed every one. ' ' 
Acts 5:12-16. 

Such was the church of God in her primitive 
glory. Clothed with the authority, power, light, 
salvation, holiness, and truth, of Christ, her great 
head, she went forth against the combined king- 
doms of sin and darkness. The church shone 
in the earth, because it reflected the light of 
Christ to sin-darkened souls. ^ ' Ye are the light 
of the world,'' he said to his disciples. Truly, 
in those days her light shone as the bright morn- 
ing sun. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



33 



The Primitive Church. 

As we stand on the summit of present truth 
and point our telescope back over the mists and 
clouds that move along at our feet, and over the 
twelve hundred and sixty years of utter dark- 
ness that extend far beyond, even into the third 
century, we behold, on the mountains of God's 
own holiness, the temple of God, resplendent 
with the morning light of his own glory. With 
admiration we view her; and, behold, she is 
'^fair as the nuoon, clear as the sun, and terri- 
ble as an army with banners." She is ^^all 
fair," the city of the great king. That golden 
city is the primitive church. 

As set forth in the oracles of God, her promi- 
nent attributes are the following: Divinity, Or- 
ganization, Visibility, Oneness, Unity, Catholic- 
ity, Exclusiveness, Holiness, Unchangeableness, 
Indestructibility, and Perpetuity. These we 
shall consider in their order. 



THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH. 

She is of divine origin. Her inception is 
coeval in the mind of God with that of the plan 
of salvation. Her origin, being the immediate 



34 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

result of redemption, was inseparable from it. 
Since, therefore, in the counsel and good pur- 
pose of God, Christ was a ^^Lamb slain from 
the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8), the 
church redeemed through his blood also stood 
before the divine mind parallel with the gift of 
his Son. Of that holy institution, he cast a 
beautiful shadow upon the earth, in the form 
of the temple and all its contents. And after 
^^ Moses verily was faithful in all his house as 
a servant, for a testimony of those things which 
were to be spoken after," in due time ^^ Christ, 
as a son over his own house," appeared and 
built this beautiful church of the living God. 
He adorned her foundations and walls with the 
pure gold of his heavenly love, and set them 
with the precious stones of his graces and gifts ; 
he adorned her pillars with the robes of his 
righteousness ; and he shed in her the light of his 
own glory. She is from heaven. Along with 
Christ her builder, she is the gift of infinite 
love. She is ^^ God's building," chosen of him 
for his own dwelling-place ; and here he spreads 
a continual feast of love for all his heaven-bom 
children. As the "tme tabernacle" of present 
divine testimony, the Lord pitched her and not 



ITS RISE AND PROaEESS. 35 

man (Heb. 8:2). As the house of God, he that 
buildeth all things in her is God (Heb. 3:4). 
As the beloved city, she '^hath foundations, 
whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11 : 10). 
Her foundation is Jesus Christ the divine Sav- 
ior. ^^For other foundation can no man lay 
than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Her 
life and light is the '^eternal Spirit." 

Her creed is the pure Word of God. Thus 
spake God by the mouth of his servant Moses : 
^'I will raise them up a Prophet from among 
their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my 
words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto 
them all that I shall command him. And it 
shall come to pass, that whosoever will not 
harken unto my words which he shall speak in 
my name, I will require it of him. ' ' Deut. 18 : 
18, 19. This is fulfilled in his Son, as the apos- 
tle testifies (Acts 3:22, 23). God here an- 
nounced that he would put his words in the 
mouth of this prophet; and when he came, he 
testified, saying, ^^The words that I speak unto 
you I speak not of myself: but the Father that 
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John 14: 
10. Therefore ^^God, who at sundry times and 
in divers manners spake in time past unto the 



36 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days 
spoken unto ns by his Son. ' ' Heb. 1 : 1, 2. This 
adorable Christ came into the world and deliv- 
ered the perfect laws of his kingdom, and when 
about to finish his mission on earth he said, ^'I 
have given unto them the words which thou 
gavest me ; and they have received them. ' ' John 
17 : 8. And when he sent forth his ministers to 
preach his gospel to every creature, he commis- 
sioned them to make disciples in all nations, 
^'baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have 
commanded you" (Matt. 28: 19, 20). Thus we 
see that Christ Jesus spoke all the words that 
the Father ^^put into his mouth," and all that 
he had commanded him to speak; and the Son 
likewise commissioned his apostles to publish 
all that, and only that, which he gave them. 
Therefore, ''All Scripture divinely inspired, is 
indeed profitable for teaching, for conviction, 
for correction, for that discipline which is in 
righteousness ; so that the man of God may be 
complete, thoroughly fitted for every good 
work." 2 Tim. 3: 16, 17, Emphatic Diaglott. 
God the Father, then, is the source of this new 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 37 

covenant, and Jesus Christ the mediator. Its 
objects are the ^'conviction" of men in sin, and 
the teaching and discipline in righteousness of 
all the saints of God. The result is that God's 
people are perfect. As divinely inspired dis- 
cipline, it corrects every error and teaches every 
obligation of righteousness in all our relations 
to God and to man. 

By means of this perfect law the man of God 
—every man of God— may be perfect, thor- 
oughly furnished in all that pertains to a life 
of righteousness, and fully instructed in every 
good work. So if the Scriptures of divine truth 
are unsuited or insufficient as a discipline for 
any people, it would indeed appear that such 
are not men of God. The creeds that men have 
multiplied in the earth testify against them- 
selves and in favor of this divine Book of disci- 
pline. They very generally admit that the 
Word of God is the only inspired and infallible 
rule of faith and practise, ' ' so that whatever can 
not be read therein nor proved thereby, it is not 
necessary to receive or believe. ' ' So they say, 
and yet they impose upon their unwary joiners 
heaps of forms, traditions, and rules having no 
place in the inspired discipline of the divine 



38 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

church. Grod's church is a ^^ spiritual house," 
and to her w^as given a spiritual law ; but earth- 
born associations, even though called churches, 
are earthly in their tendency, and therefore they 
can not be governed by a spiritual law. For 
this reason they make their own laws, and 
amend them according to their own option. But 
the divine and heavenly law of the Lord, perfect 
in all its doctrines and ordinances, is well suited 
to be the discipline of his holy church. 

Her government is divine, not only in the leg- 
islative department, as we have just seen, but 
likewise in its judicial and executive depart- 
ments. ^^The government shall be upon his 
shoulder." Isa. 9:6. ''And thou, tower of 
the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of 
Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first 
dominion." Micah 4:8. ''He is the head of 
the body, the church, . . . that in all things he 
might have the preeminence. ' ' Col. 1 : 18. A 
divine government in the highest sense : a theoc- 
racy not only appointed by but administered of 
God. Even ' ' one God and Father of all, who is 
above all, and through all, and in you all. ' ' Eph. 
4:6. "It is the same God which worketh all in 
all." 1 Cor. 12: 6. He chooses men for elders 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 39 

and deacons, as ^^governments" and ^^helps''; 
but these, as well as all the members of the 
body, have no right or power to act, except as 
^4t is God that worketh in them." If, there- 
fore, they teach or exhort, it is by his Spirit 
dwelling in them ; if through them judgment is 
dealt out, it is not ^^ man's judgment," but his 
that dwelleth in them. So her government is 
indeed all divine ; yea, it is a government of God, 
working all things in all the members. 

Her walls are salvation (Isa. 26:1; 60:18). 
^^ Behold, God is my salvation." Isa. 12:2. 
Therefore her walls are also divine. She has 
a divine door, even Jesus Christ himself (John 
10:7, 9). 

Having been purchased, founded, and built 
by God, he claims in her the exclusive right of 
proprietorship. She is not '^our church," but 
^^ God's building," divinely owned, and his glory 
he will not give to another. 

Her members are all the sons of God and bear 
his holy image. 

She is even divinely named. ^^For this cause 
I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Je- 
sus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven 
and earth is named." Eph. 3: 14, 15. And let 



40 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

not men or devils presume to characterize her 
by blasphemous names which they invent. 
Behold, she is all divine. 

THE CHUECH IS AN ORGANIC STRUCTTJBE. 

Therefore when men charge us with discard- 
ing all organizations, they either ignorantly or 
wilfully misrepresent us. As the Word teaches, 
so we teach. The church that Jesus purchased 
with his own blood, he also ^^ built" (Matt. 16: 
18) ; that is, organized. ^'In whom [Christ] all 
the building fitly framed together groweth unto 
an holy temple into the Lord. ' ' Eph. 2 : 21. 
These scriptures and many others clearly set 
forth the church of God as a symmetrical and 
perfectly organized structure. Of this fact there 
is no question; but with regard to who holds the 
prerogative of organizing the body, not all so 
well agree. 

The general teaching in sectarian theology is 
that God only saves and gathers men out of 
the world into a general mass and that it is the 
duty of ministers to fonn the material thus pro- 
vided into organic form. But our teaching is 
that God not only saves men into his church, 
but also forms them in due order and really or- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 41 

ganizes the church itself. In order to show 
which position is correct, we will now appeal to 
the Word. A few texts will be sufficient to set- 
tle the question. The church, as we have seen, 
is a building, a house ; that is, an organic struc- 
ture. Now, it must be apparent to all that who- 
ever is the architect and builder of a house is 
also its organizer. But ''he who hath builded 
the house hath more honor than the house." 
And ''he that built all things is God." Heb. 
3:3, 4. "But now hath God set the members 
every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased 
him." 1 Cor. 12 : 18. "And God hath set some 
in the church, first apostles," etc. Verse 28. 
To furnish with organs, "built," "compact," 
"fitly framed together," and to "temper the 
body together" cover all that is included in the 
word ' ' organize. ' ' And ' ' all these worketh that 
one and the selfsame Spirit. ' ' 1 Cor. 12 : 11. 
Yea, "it is the same God which worketh all in 
all. ' ' 1 Cor. 12 : 6. He, then, through the Spirit, 
is the organizer of his own church. 

As we view the pure church in her morning 
glory, we see her a perfect organized body. She 
had law, discipline, and government. This was 
all contained in the gospel— the New Testament. 



42 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

The law of Christ being a perfect rule of faith, 
the church needed no other, and it needs no 
other today. There is no excuse for the modem 
creeds of men. Modern sects are of human 
origin; hence they need man-made rules and 
discipline. The church of Grod is divine; hence 
the divine law is sufficient for its government. 
Moreover, the Lord calls, qualifies, and sends 
forth by his Spirit certain ones for the minis- 
try. Among these are evangelists, pastors, and 
teachers. They prove their call by their ability 
to minister. Such are acknowledged by the 
church, and by the direction of the Lord are 
ordained by the imposition of hands to the im- 
portant work to which the Lord has called them. 
This is all done by the direction of the Holy 
Spirit, without voting into office. In every con- 
gregation saved out of the world by the blood of 
Christ, the Lord calls certain ones and by his 
Spirit qualifies them to be elders or overseers. 
Others he calls to the work of deacons. '^He 
sets the members every one in the body as it 
pleaseth him." The ministry recognize these 
calls and by the laying on of hands, just like 
the apostles and ministers of old, dedicate to the 
various kinds of work those whom the Lord has 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 43 

chosen and qualified. This is called ordination. 
These officers of the church are in authority, and 
execute his word. They are called ' ' overseers. ' ' 
They are not made so by man, but ^^the Holy 
Ghost hath made you overseers" (Acts 20: 28). 
The church is commanded thus: '^Obey them 
that have the rule over you, and submit your- 
selves." Heb. 13:17. 

So before the advent of any of the modern 
sects God's church was a perfectly organized 
structure; and we are happy to say that since 
we have come out of and discarded these sects 
of human origin, and have been abiding only in 
the church divine, we have the same govern- 
ment, rule, discipline, officers, authority, and or- 
ganization that the primitive Christians had. 

THE VISIBILITY OF THE CHUROH. 

''But these people," it is alleged of the saints 
of the most high God, ' ' do not believe in a visi- 
ble organized church." This again is an un- 
true statement. We teach that there are both 
an invisible and a visible phase to the church of 
God. Since it is the Lord who ''works all in 
all the members, ' ' this work being accomplished 
through the instrumentality of the Holj' Spirit, 



44 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

the church must be invisible. Thus through the 
Holy Spirit, God organizes, builds, and adds 
members to the church, calls and qualifies its of- 
ficers for their responsible work. As regards 
its living head, its door of entrance, its eternal 
foundation, the spiritual life that animates it, 
the operation of the Spirit in the distribution of 
its gifts, and in many other respects, the church 
is invisible. We are glad to say, however, that 
this glorious temple built by an invisible God is 
a visible church. She is "the light of the 
world," "a. city that is set on a hill" (Matt. 5: 
14). As the wind, though an invisible power, 
produces effects that are perceptible to the eye ; 
so the hand of God, though invisible to man, 
builds and organizes a church that is seen of 
all. 

Salvation constitutes us members of God's 
church; and while, as before stated, the opera- 
tion of the Spirit in salvation is invisible, the 
effects produced in the individual will be visibly 
manifested in his life. All who become mem- 
bers are new creatures, walk in newness of life, 
and serve him in newness of spirit. This great 
change is seen by all. The saved man is a liv- 
ing epistle, ^^ known and read of all men," a 



I 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 45 

^^gazing-stock," a '^spectacle [theater] unto the 
world, to angels, and to men." Others ^^see 
his good works." Such individuals are visible 
to all men as real Christians— as members of 
the church of God. Thus the membership in the 
divine church is visible membership. Every 
member is known by his fruits. Though or- 
ganized by the invisible Spirit, the church is 
composed of men and women who are as visible 
now as they were when they were in the king- 
dom of darkness. 

While the kingdom of God is substantially the 
same as is the church, the former relates only 
to the spiritual leaven and unseen power of 
God that transforms the hearts of men into 
righteousness and fills them with ^^all joy and 
peace in believing. ' ' Hence it ' ' cometh not with 
observation." The church, on the contrary, is 
the assembly of the saved, the household of God. 
It includes the body no less than ^Hhe liidden 
man of the heart." ^^Know ye not that your 
bodies are the members of Christ?" 1 Cor. 
6: 16. ^^ Christ," ^^his body," and ^^the church" 
are all identical in 1 Cor. 12: 12, 13, 27, 28. It 
is in our physical bodies that we compose the 
assembly of God. This shows that she is a visi- 



46 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

ble ecclesia. A house, a vine, a family, an army 
with banners, a light, the moon, the mother, and 
a city set on a hill— these are the most common 
figures of the church ; and all these denote visi- 
bility. 

The saints forsake not the assembling of them- 
selves together. Wherever a number of people 
fully accept Christ, whether in a country place 
or in a city, they assemble together for wor- 
ship. These assemblies constitute local churches, 
geographically distributed throughout the 
world. All such assemblies are visible. Surely 
Barnabas and Paul, who assembled a whole year 
with the church at Antioch (Acts 11 : 26), did not 
gather together with something they saw not— 
with unseen spirits. Saints, as an assembly, 
worship God. This worship consists in prayer, 
song, exhortation, testimony, praise, and preach- 
ing. All such meetings and public devotions are 
visible. 

The saving effects of the gospel ministered 
through the church are visible. God calls and 
qualifies certain persons to preach this gos- 
pel. Their preaching produces joy, comfort, 
and peace in the hearts of believers. They ex- 
press this in song, praise, and spiritual worship. 



4 



I 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 47 

Sinners are melted and under pungent convic- 
tion fall at the public altar, cry for mercy, and 
find deliverance. All this is visible. 

God is a God of order. Through the Holy 
Spirit he organizes every local assembly raised 
up through the preaching of the gospel. He sets 
the members in the body as it pleases him. As 
before stated, this work is invisible, but these 
members who constitute the body are visible. 
Its ministry— evangelists, pastors, and teachers 
—are visible. They feel the call of God upon 
them and exercise in their respective callings. 
Their call and work is recognized by the church 
in which they labor, aad they are publicly or- 
dained by the laying on of hands. Whether they 
be classed as local or traveling elders— called 
pastors and evangelists— their work is visible. 
Deacons are chosen and ordained to look after 
the temporal affairs of the church. Their work 
also is visible. 

Then again, the ministry are placed in au- 
thority. They are ambassadors for Christ. The 
chief shepherd and governor of his people has 
placed ^^governments" in this church (1 Cor. 
12: 28). These are vested in the holy ministry. 
As ensamples to the flock, they teach, wai'n, ad- 



48 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

monisih, rebuke, and axecute his Word. To 
them he says, ' ' Hear the Word at my mouth and 
give them warning from me." ^^Them that 
sin, rebuke before all." To the church the 
following charge is given: ^^ Remember them 
that have the rule over you, men that speak unto 
you the Word of God. " '' Obey them that have 
the rule over you and submit yourself to them." 
Heb. 13 : 7, 17, R. V. This is government, and it 
is visible. 

And again, in the exercise and manifestations 
of the gifts placed in the church there is visi- 
bility. The Lord has placed in his church many 
spiritual gifts— gifts of exhortation, preaching, 
wisdom and knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, 
discerning of spirits, tongues, etc. All these 
are visibly maaif ested. 

So the church of God stands out before us the 
most beautiful, visible institution on earth. 

Sects, then, are not necessary to make the 
church visible. In this respect they are worth- 
less. This theory is generally circulated by sec- 
tarians in defense of their own rival organiza- 
tions, that the constitution of sects is essential 
to the visible manifestation of the church. A sect 
is a portion ^^cut off." Is there any sense, rea- 



i 



ITS EISE AND PROGEESS. 49 

sorij or divine tnitli in the teaching that an in- 
visible body is made visible by cutting off a 
portion of it? None of the present sects came 
into existence until the third century. Was 
God's church an invisible thing on earth for 
nearly three hundred years'? "Who can affirm 
that the multitude of sects have made visible the 
church of God, from which they are severed 
by their particular creeds? We affirm in the 
presence of the Judge of all men, with a clear 
consciousness of his truth to support our propo- 
sition, that the creation of the sects of Christen- 
dom have had exactly the opposite effect. Their 
traditions have made ^^the Word of God of none 
effect." Their confusing creeds, heaps of rub- 
bish, and interminable machinery have utterly 
subverted and well-nigh hidden the church that 
Jesus builded. As the historian D 'Aubigne says, 
in the third century an ^^ earthly association," 
' ' an external organization, ' ' was gradually sub- 
stituted for ' ' the interior and spiritual commun- 
ion which is the essence of the religion of God." 
Then, says the historian, ^Hhe living church re- 
tired gradually within the lonely sanctuary of a 
few solitary hearts"; that is, the real church of 
God was almost hidden from view by the over- 



50 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

spread pomp of the false. So, then, men's sects 
do not make visible God's church, but, on the 
contrary, obstruct her life and obscure her glory. 
These are facts of the history that no honest 
and intelligent man can d^ny. 

The Babel of human sects long obscured the 
sight of the church of the first-bom. Until the 
evening light revealed the true church as she 
shone out in the morning of the dispensation, 
everybody looked upon man-made substitutes as 
the divine church, and the body of Christ, which 
only is the church, was scarcely discerned at 
all. 

Visibility is a natural characteristic of the 
church of God. Thus the church of God did not 
become visible by the organization of sects; 
for in the days of primitive Christianity none 
of the modern sects existed. Those who speak 
of God's invisible church and can see it visible 
only in sect organizations hold a superstition 
of the Dark Ages. Babylon theologians teach 
that God takes members into his invisible 
church, while they admit members into the visi- 
ble. In this they are without any Scriptural 
support. It is true that the world can not see 
the head of the church, as do the Christians, for 



ITS RISE AND PEOORESS. 51 

he manifests himself unto the latter as he does 
not unto the former; but all can see the chil- 
dren of God, and they are the body of Christ, 
the church. ' ' Whosoever sinneth hath not seen 
him, neither known him. ' ' This again explains 
why the masses of sect-members do not discern 
Christ nor his church. It is because they are 
sinners, and Satan blinds their eyes to their con- 
dition by telling them that Christ and his church 
are invisible. 

Again, the class-book of God's church is not 
here on earth nor seen by natural eyes. But, 
notwithstanding this, the spiritual ^^read their 
title clear" and know their names are written 
there. 

So the church, without any tampering by man, 
is a glorious and visible city of God on earth, 
yea, so very visible that it is even the light of 
the world. 

ONENESS OF GOD^S CHURCH. 

As there is but '^one God, and Father of all, 
who is above all, and through all, and in you 
all"; so likewise there is but ^^one body and 
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope 
of your calling." It was the purpose of God 



52 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

to save both Jews and Gentiles through the gos- 
pel of his Son. Now, between these two classes 
was a great gulf of prejudice and vast separa- 
tion in sentiment and education, so that it might 
very reasonably be thought that characters so 
remote from each other could never be blended 
together in one body and enabled to live agree- 
ably under one faith. Did, therefore, the Lord 
indulge their alienation from each other, and 
their extreme peculiarities, by providing sepa- 
rate folds ? He did not. Said the Great Teacher, 
^^ Other sheep I have [Gentiles], which are not 
of this fold [not Jews] : them also I must bring, 
and they shall hear my voice ; and there shall be 
one fold, and one shepherd. ' ' John 10 : 16. These 
antipodes of humanity, if saved at all, had to 
be brought together into one fold. Which class, 
then, was required to surrender its position to 
the other? The answer is, ^^He put no differ- 
ence between us and them.'' ^^But the Scrip- 
ture hath concluded all under sin.'' The apos- 
tle confessed that the Jews were no better than 
the Gentiles. Neitlier class had to come over 
to the other, but both to God through Christ 
Jesus ; and here is the beautiful result : ' ' For 
he is our peace, who hath made both one, and 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 55 

hath broken down the middle wall of partition 
between us; having abolished in his flesh the 
enmity, even the law of commandments con- 
tained in ordinances ; for to make in himself of 
twain one new man, so making peace." Eph. 
2 : 14-16. 

Then, for all the saved of the nations of the 
earth God has provided bnt ^^one fold." In 
it are peacefnlly blended together men of the 
most widely conflicting idiosyncrasies, and races 
of t h e most opposite customs and religions. 
Since, therefore, the infinite grace of God is 
manifestly sufficient to mold all men into one 
harmonious body, there is need of only one 
cliurch. Every description of the church shows 
that it is but one. Every relation that she sus- 
tains to her God demands that she be one. 
Accordingly, we are told that Christ ^4s the 
head of the body, the church." As there is but 
one head, there can be but one body. ^'For as 
the body is one, and hath many members, and 
all the members of that one body, being many, are 
one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit 
are we all baptized into one body, whether we 
be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; 
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 



54 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 



But now are they many members, yet but one 
body. ' ' 1 Cor. 12 : 12, 13, 20. ' ' For as we have 
many members in one body, and all members 
have not the same office : so we, being many, are 
one body in Christ, and every one members one 
of another. ' ' Rom. 12 : 4, 5. " And let the peace 
of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye 
are called in one body; and be ye thankful." 
Col. 3 : 15. These and many similar scriptures 
declare in the most positive terms that God ac- 
knowledges but one body. There is but one true 
church or assembly, just as there is but one true 
God. Since Christ calls us into one body, the 
call to join various bodies must proceed from 
antichrist. There is absolutely but one body 
and one Christ its head. 

Again, the church, or divine congregation, sus- 
tains in some respects the relation to Christ that 
a wife does to her husband. ^'And I will be- 
troth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth 
thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, 
and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will 
even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and 
thou shalt know the Lord." '^For I am jealous 
over you with godly jealousy: for I have es- 
poused you to one husband, that I may present 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 55 

you as a chaste virgin to Christ. ' ' 2 Cor. 11 : 2. 
^^BDe that hath the bride is the bridegroom. '' 
John 3 : 29. ' ' For thy maker is thine husband ; 
the Lord of hosts is his name ; and thy Redeemer 
the. Holy One of Israel ; the God of the whole 
earth shall he be called, ' ' Isa. 54 : 5. '' Let us 
be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him : for 
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife 
hath made herself ready. And to her was 
granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, 
clean and white : for the fine linen is the right- 
eousness of saints. ' ' Rev. 19 : 7, 8. Here are 
five texts establishing this beautiful relation be- 
tween Christ and his church. To admit, there- 
fore, the idea of more than one church would 
impute to Christ the sin of polygamy. A shock- 
ing blasphemy ! 

But again, we find the divine ecclesia recog- 
nized as his own family, his household. ^^Of 
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is 
named. ' ' Eph. 3 : 15. '' Now therefore ye are 
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow 
citizens with the saints, and of the household of 
God." Eph. 2:19. Since no man can rightly 
have two families, God has but one church, 
which is the holy family. 



i 



56 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

' ' Why, then, ' ' some one may ask, ' ^ do we read 
of ' churches ' in the Bible ? " It is true the word 
^^ church" frequently appears in the plural; but 
a little attention to the word will convince any 
honest mind that the church of God is plural 
only in its diversified geographical location, but 
in a varietv of faiths and orders, never. Ac- 
cordingiy, the word never occurs in the plural 
except when the writer is speaking of God's 
assembly located in several cities or in various 
localities throughout a country or province. For 
examples : 

^^Then had the churches rest throughout all 
Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edi- 
fied." Acts 9:31. 

' ' And he went through Syria and Cilicia con- 
fiiTQing the churches." Acts 15: 41. 

^^As I teach everywhere in every church." 
1 Cor. 4:17. 

^^As I have given order to the churches of 
Galatia, even so do ye." 1 Cor. 16: 1. 

^^And so ordain I in all churches." 1 Cor. 
7:17. 

'^The churches of Asia salute you." 1 Cor. 
16:19. 

^^They returned again to Lystra, and to 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 57 

Iconium, and Antioch; . . . and when they had 
ordained them elders in every church," Acts 
14:21,23. 

In all the above instances except the last the 
word ^'chnrches" refers to the congregations 
of God located at various places throughout one 
or more countries. In the last the reference is 
to the congregations in three cities. That these 
churches were not separate sects is clear from 
the fact that they were all combined under the 
same ministry. One inspired apostle enjoined 
rules upon them all; but we all know that no 
bishop of one sect has jurisdiction over another 
ecclesiastical order. By means of any complete 
concordance you may see that ' ' church ' ' is never 
once used in the plural number when referring 
to the disciples of Christ in any one city. No mat- 
ter how large the city and how numerous the be- 
lievers, there is but one church of God in it. This 
church, however, may have had several places of 
assembling on account of not all the members 
being able to meet in one place. This evi- 
dently was true of the church at Antioch, where 
the believers numbered thousands. Yet when 
all these were spoken of, they were termed ^'the 
church that was at Antioch," or ^^the church 



yi 



58 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

of God which is at Corinth. ' ' 1 Cor. 1:2. ^ ^ The 
church of the Thessalonians. " 1 Thess. 1:1. 
^^Unto the seven churches which are in Asia; 
unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Per- 
gamos,»and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and 
unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." Rev. 
1:11. 

Thus you see that there was only one church 
in one city and that the seven churches of Asia, 
so often appealed to in apology for men's sects, 
were not seven sects in one town, but God's one 
community located in seven cities. There is, we 
repeat, not a single instance in the New Testa- 
ment of more than one church of God in one 
place or city; not one case where the word 
^'churches" does not mean a plurality of loca- 
tions, and not a plurality of denominations. In- 
deed, according to every characteristic of the 
divine church, she is but one body in heaven and 
on earth, composed of all those who are saved ; 
and but one in her manifestation in any one 
place, composed of all in that place who are 
saved in Christ Jesus. And though under the 
apostasy there are today many bodies, many 
towering steeples and rival altars in every city, 
God's Word is just as true today as when writ- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 59 

ten by the inspiration of the apostles, and there 
is but one body in Christ (Rom. 12: 4, 5). Tea, 
there is but one body universal, and but one 
body in Chicago, New York, or in any other city 
on earth. Therefore, if ' ' God be true and every 
man a liar," it follows that the multitude of ec- 
clesiastical bodies seen in these last days are 
not in Christ, not the one body of Christ. How- 
ever, we admit that individuals who, through 
erroneous education, dwell in these manifold 
factions, and also sincerely abide in Christ, are 
in the one body of Christ, notwithstanding their 
sect relation. This, however, they are always 
ready to abandon when they properly discern 
the divine body into which God set them and 
the rival character of the sect into which they 
were taken by man. The church of God is one 
in heaven and on earth ; hence she is necessarily 
one holy family wherever she appears on earth. 

UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 

We have just seen that God's church is one 
fold, one family, one body. We shall next prove 
from the Scriptures that her divine autlior de- 
mands perfect harmony in all her members, has 
fully provided for that unity, and forbids all 



60 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

divisions. Not only is the community of God 
one body, but all divisions of that one body are 
condemned in the strongest terms. Let us hear 
the great Founder, as he pours out his heart in 
prayer to the Father, while already suffering 
the inward pains of death in behalf of his dearly 
purchased church : ' ' Holy Father, keep through 
thine own name those whom thou hast ^iven me, 
that they may be one, as we are one." John 
17:11. ^^ Neither pray I for these alone, but 
for them also who shall believe on me through 
their word; that they all may be one; as thou, 
Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also 
may be one in us: that the world may believe 
that thou hast sent me." Verses 20, 21. ^^I in 
them, and thou in me, that they may be made 
perfect in one; and that the world may know 
that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as 
thou hast loved me." Verse 23. 

Three times he earnestly prays that all who 
believe on him through the apostles' word 
should be one, yea, one even as he himself and 
the Father are one. Are we Christians if we 
respect not those deep heart-yearnings o f 
Christ? Do we care for the salvation of this 
lost world if we are indifferent about this heav- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 61 

only unity, which the ^^ wisdom of God" fore- 
saw and declared essential to their faith in the 
divine mission of Christ on earth? The Lord 
knew very well that the citadel of the hnman 
soul is under the control of reason and can ad- 
mit nothing without the consent of that high 
functionary. He also perceived that reason 
must pronounce division, discord, strife, and 
confusion inconsistent with a religion declared 
to emanate from God. Hence that earnest and 
thrice repeated prayer that we should all be 
one as he and the Father are one, so that the 
world might believe that he was really sent from 
heaven to save men from their sins. 

The language virtually implies that if this 
holy unity should not be seen by the world un- 
belief would possess their hearts and his death 
on their behalf would be largely frustrated. And 
have not his anticipations proved sadly true? 
Behold, the world is today rushing on to hell; 
and ever since strife and division has broken 
the sweet ^^one accord" of the primitive church, 
the gospel has been comparatively powerless to 
convict of sin and the judgment, and turn the 
souls of men from the ways of death. There 
is, then, a solemn and awful weight of import- 



62 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

ance connected with this divine unity. For this 
cause there is perhaps no one thing more fre- 
quently enjoined in the New Testament than 
the oneness of all believers, no evil more pre- 
emptorily forbidden than that of schisms, and 
no sin more strongly denounced than that of 
causing division. 

The apostles of the Lord, walking in the spirit 
and footsteps of their Master, continued the 
same earnest appeal for the unity of all who 
profess the name of Christ. ''Now I beseech 
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and 
that there be no divisions among you ; but that 
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind 
and in the same judgment. ' ' 1 Cor. 1 : 10. " For 
ye are all one in Christ Jesus. ' ' Gal. 3 : 28. 
''Only let your conversation be as it becometh 
the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and 
see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your 
affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one 
mind striving together for the faith of the gos- 
pel." Phil. 1: 27. "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye 
be like-minded, having the same love, being of 
one accord, of one mind." Phil. 2:2. "Now 
the God of patience and consolation grant you 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. . 63 

to be like-minded one toward another accord- 
ing to Christ Jesus : that ye may with one mind 
and one month glorify Grod, even the Father of 
our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 15: 5, 6. '^And 
the multitude of them that believed were of one 
heart and of one soul." Acts 4: 32. 

Here are five more strong texts on unity. In 
the first the children of God are exhorted to 
be ^'perfectly joined together in the same mind 
and in the same judgment"; in the third, to 
^^ stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striv- 
ing together for the faith of the gospel"; in 
the fourth, to '^be like-minded," ^' being of one 
accord" — not like-minded according to some 
man's mind or creed, not according to the mind 
of the flesh nor yet the edicts of some conference 
of preachers, but ^4ike-minded one to another 
according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with 
one mind and one mouth glorify God." An 
earnest admonition is, ^^I beseech you, breth- 
ren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
ye all speak the same thing, and that there be 
no divisions among you. ' ' For a refutation of 
the false statement that people can not see alike, 
for the confirmation of the Word and grace of 
God, and for the encouragement of God's saints 



M -THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

in all subsequent time, it is recorded that '^the 
multitude of them that believed, were of o n e 
heart and one soul." Not simply a few were 
enabled to come into this unity for which Christ 
prayed, but the whole multitude of believers, 
and they numbered thousands. Now, we con- 
fidently affirm that the same salvation will pro- 
duce the same fruits today. 

Not only did the apostles follow their teacher 
and Lord in demanding perfect unity in all be- 
lievers, but they also showed a holy abhorrence 
of all divisions. Accordingly, we are told that 
' ' God hath tempered the body together, having 
given more abundant honor to that part which 
lacked: that there should be no schism in the 
body" (1 Cor. 12:24, 25). Here is a direct 
prohibition of all schisms, or divisions, in the 
body of Christ. By the standard of truth all 
divisions among Christians are sinful. ^^Now 
I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause 
divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine 
which ye have learned; and avoid them. For 
they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus 
Christ, but their own belly; and by good words 
and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the 
simple." Rom. 16: 17, 18. ^'A man that is an 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 65 

heretic after the first and second admonition 
reject; knowing that he that is such is sub- 
verted, and sinneth, being condemned of him- 
self." Tit. 3:10, 11. ^^But there were false 
prophets also among the people, even as there 
shall be false teachers among you, who privily 
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying 
the Lord that bought them, and bring upon 
themselves swift destruction. And many shall 
follow their pernicious ways ; by reason of whom 
the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And 
through covetousness shall they with feigned 
words make merchandise of you: whose judg- 
ment now of a long time lingereth not, and their 
damnation slumbereth not. ' ' 2 Pet. 2 : 1-3. 

The foregoing texts, it will be observed, class- 
ify together as all the same "a man that causes 
divisions," "a heretic," and such as bring in 
heresies. And now we shall prove the position 
correct. The word hairesis is a Greek teiTQ, 
^ found ten times in the New Testament. In the 
following instances the word is rendered sect: 
Acts 5:17; 15:5; 24:5; 26:5; and 28:22. In 
the first, second, and fourtli instances it is ap- 
plied to the sect of the Pharisees. In the third 
and fiftli, the Jews, ignorant of tlie true and 



66 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

universal character of Grod's cliurcli, called it a 
sect, the sect of the Nazarenes. As the disci- 
ples were nearly all from the Jewish nation, 
they were very naturally looked npon as an- 
other sect of that nation. In all these instances 
it is clearly seen that hairesis is correctly ren- 
dered ^^sect," which signifies a faction. 

There are five more instances of hairesis in 
the Greek New Testament. In these the word 
is not, we may say, translated at all, bnt merely 
transferred with a slight change of form into 
^'heresy" and ''heretic." They are the follow- 
ing: Acts 24:14; 1 Cor. 11:19; Gal. 5:20; 2 
Pet. 2 : 1 ; and Tit. 3 : 10. In the last the word 
is liairetekos, referring to the sectarian instead 
of the sect. The word in Acts— ''after the way 
which they call heresy^'— i^ translated "sect" 
by Rotherham, Wakefield, A. LajTnan, Chas. 
Thomson, H. T. Anderson, Bible Union, Empha- 
tic Diaglott, Yonng, and the New Version. In 
1 Cor. 11: 19— "for there mnst also be heresies 
among you"— the word is rendered "sects'' by 
Thomson, Anderson, Bible Union, and Young; 
"parties" by Rotherham; "factions" by Em- 
phatic Diaglott. In the passage in Gal. 5:20 
the word for "heresies" is rendered "sects" by 



ITS RISE AND PROaRESS. 67 

Thomson, Anderson, Bible Union, and Young; 
^^ parties'' by Rotherham; ^^ factions" by Dia- 
glott; ^'divisions" by the New Version. The 
word for ^^ heresies" in 2 Peter 2 is translated 
^' sects" by Layman, Thomson, Anderson, and 
Young; ^^ parties" by Rotherham; '' factions" 
by Bible Union. The word for ' ' heretic ' ' in Tit. 
3 : 10 is translated as follows : ' ' A man that 
causes divisions."— Bible Union. ^'A fomenter 
of divisions."— Wakefield. ^'A party man."— 
Rotherham. ' ' A sectary. ' ' —Anderson. ' ' A 
sectarian man. ' '—Young. 

So, then, it is clearly seen that a heresy is a 
^^feect," ^^ faction," ^' party," or ^^ division"; 
while a heretic is ' ^ a man that causes divisions, ' ' 
foments sects; or he may be simply a ^^ party 
man," namely, one that holds to, and is zealous 
for, a sect or party, or, in plain words, as ren- 
dered in the excellent translations of Robert 
Young, of Edinburgh, Scotland, "a. sectarian 
man." So utterly abhorrent in its nature and 
ruinous in its fruits is the sin of partyism or 
sectarianism, that God's true children are coni- 
manded to reject any one who is guilty of it 
after the first and second admonition — ''know- 
ing that he that is such, is subverted, and sin- 



68 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

neth, being condemned of himself." All these 
translations, even more clearly than the Com- 
mon Version, prove that there is no sin more 
utterly abominated by the Word of God than 
that of sectarianism. Paul declared the Corin- 
thians carnal, because inclined to be sectish, one 
saying, '^I am of Paul, and another, I am of 
Apollos." 1 Cor. 3:1-4. 

In Gal. 5 : 20 the word for ^^ heresies" is trans- 
lated in plain English ^^ sects"; in several other 
versions the apostle pronounces them ^^the 
works of the flesh," and classifies them with 
adultery, fornication, idolatry, murders, drunk- 
enness, revelings, and such like. It is an awful 
fact, but the Inspired Volume mentions no sin 
that is more hateful in the sight of God; and 
it can not be denied that sects are classified with 
the very darkest crimes. There must, there- 
fore, be a way to escape this sin and the judg- 
ments of God that will be visited upon such as 
are guilty of it. The dreadful evil is surely not 
an unavoidable one. The verv fact that God 
renounces it and commands us to reject and 
withdraw ourselves from sectarians proves that 
there is a foundation upon which we may stand 
clear. Let us see if we can find it. In the very 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 69 

prayer in which Christ so earnestly and repeat- 
edly besought the perfect unity of all his disci- 
ples, and all who would subsequently believe on 
hinij we find him laying down the 

COMPLETE BASIS OF ONENESS. 

1. Not of the world, ^^They are not of the 
world, even as I am not of the world." ^'The 
men which thou gavest me out of the world." 
John 17 ; 6, 14. Here is the very first condition 
of entering into the required unity. This world 
is all cursed and confused by the malady of sin. 
The fall of the race not only separated between 
man and God, but also broke the human family 
into fragments, bringing hatred and strife into 
men's hearts. Jesus, however came into the 
world and wrought a new creation. In it 
are peace, unity, and harmony. But no man can 
enter the new creation and still abide in the old. 
Hence it is no marvel that the mass of sectari- 
ans, who conform to the world in pride, love the 
world in covetousness, and run with the world 
in all its popular amusements and abominations, 
persistently cry : 

We must agree to disagree; 
We mortals can not hope to see 
The Word of God just all the same, 
Until we reach a higher plane. 



70 THE CHKISTIAN CHURCH: 

Certainly not ; but they need not wait for the fu- 
ture to bring the higher state. Let them re- 
pent of their sins, deny themselves of the lusts 
of the flesh, and be saved out of this world by 
the transforming grace of God; then shall they 
have met the first conditions of discipleship and 
also the first conditions of oneness. But in com- 
ing out of the old world of sin into what shall 
we enter and abide? 

2. In Christ alone. ''That they all may be 
one : as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, 
that they also may be one in us.'' Verse 21. 
This is an important condition and basis of one- 
ness. We can not hope to be one in any earth- 
born association, but we can and must be one in 
God and in Christ. They put darkness for light 
and light for darkness, who talk of joining some 
sect in order to be united. Every sect is a 
schism, and to join one is to partake of the sin 
of division, which is, as we have seen, extremely 
hateful in the sight of God. Of course, many 
have joined sects ignorantly, not discriminating 
between the church which is of God, and the 
sect which is of man; and our compassionate 
High Priest shows mercy to those who unwit- 
tingly go out of the way, provided they are only 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 71 

willing to walk in the light when it shines unto 
them. If, then, we are to be one in Christ Jesus, 
they who are saved out of the world unto him 
and abide in him, walking in all his truth and 
not allowing themselves to be enticed into any- 
thing else— these stand upon the divinely ap- 
pointed foundation of unity and are free from 
the great transgression of schism. On the con- 
trary, whoever professes the name of Christ and 
yet wilfully enters anything besides the church 
of the Lord Jesus, will have to answer for the 
sin of division. ^^ There is neither Jew nor 
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is 
neither male nor female: for ye are all one in 
Christ Jesus/' Gal. 3 : 28. ^ ^ So we being many 
are one body in Christ. Rom. 12 : 5. 

What excuse, then, is there for division? 
There is salvation in no other than Christ, and 
^^ye are complete in him"— completely saved, 
completely kept, completely supplied, and com- 
pletely unified. Since, therefore, we are com- 
manded to ' ' abide in him ' ' and in him we have 
all grace, peace, and wisdom, oneness, happi- 
ness, and holiness, what but the will of tlie flesh 
and of the devil can lead men to join themselves 
to anything else? 



72 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

Says the devotee of sects, ''It is utterly im- 
possible for any one to bring the whole Chris- 
tian body to this way of thinking." That is 
all true, and it accounts for the fact that every 
human institution has failed to unite all Chris- 
tians upon the platform of its creed; but with 
all this admitted, there still remains no excuse 
for divisions. Man's inability does not over- 
throw God's abilitj^ It still remains true that 
the Lord Jesus Christ ''is able even to subdue 
all things unto himself" (Phil. 3:21). It was 
not man but Christ who "made both one [i. e., 
Jews and Gentiles], and hath broken down the 
middle wall of partition between us (Eph. 2: 
14). The same salvation would utterly break 
down and sweep out of existence every secta- 
rian wall of modem times. ' ' The multitude of 
them that believed were of one heart and one 
soul." He who, by his transforming grace, 
wrought this beautiful effect at the beginning of 
his heavenly kingdom on earth is able to give 
all who truly submit themselves to him the same 
' ' one mind ' ' today ; and, indeed, we shall show, 
in its proper place, that just now the Lord is 
gathering his holy bride from every ism under 
heaven into his own body and fulfilling proph- 



ITS EISE AND PEOGRESS. 73 

ecy in giving them ^^one heart and one way.'^ 
It is God's own doings, and man's inability has 
nothing to do with it. The work of unifying the 
children of God is no more the work of man than 
is onr salvation. We are all one in Christ Jesus.' 
3. The name. The third provision of our one- 
ness in the prayer of- Christ was his fulfilment of 
the prediction of Isa. 62: 2: ^^And the Gentiles 
shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy 
glory : and thou shalt be called by a new name, 
which the mouth of the Lord shall name. ' ' Here 
is a clear prophecy of the transition from the 
first to the second covenant ; from the Israel that 
was bom after* the flesh and was of the one 
nation to the Israel that is born of the Spirit 
out of all nations. The Jews as a nation re- 
jected Christ, and the kingdom of heaven was 
open to the Gentiles. An entirely new order 
was then enacted, and old things passed away. 
The people (church) of God under the new cove- 
nant received a new name, which was given by 
the mouth of the Lord. The same thing is again 
spoken of in Isaiah 65. In verse 12 is an awful 
picture of the destruction of the Jews. ^'There- 
fore will I number you to the sword, and ye 
shall all bow down to tlie slaughter: because 



74 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

when I called, ye did not answer." '^And ye 
shall leave your name for a curse unto my 
chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and 
call his servants by another name. ' ' Verse 15. 
These scriptures were fulfilled when the Lord 
Jesus said, ^^I have manifested thy name unto 
the men which thou gavest me out of the world. ' ' 
^^ While I was with them in the world, I kept 
them in thy name." John 17 : 6, 12. 

While men foolishly aflSrm that there is noth- 
ing in a name, the Lord God attaches importance 
enough to the naming of his church to consti- 
tute it a matter of prophesy. He excluded all 
men's attempts at naming it by preannouncing 
that it should be "^ named by the mouth of the 
Lord.'- There are many reasons why the nam- 
ing of the church is a matter of vital importance. 
One object, however, is sufficient to speak of 
here. Thus prayed the Man of Sorrows, ''Holy 
Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast 
given me that they may be one, even as we are. ' ' 
Verse 11, New Version. The word rendered 
''through" in the Common Version is en in the 
Greek, and is the same word that is regularly 
translated in throughout the Xew Testament. 
Of the twelve translations that are before the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 75 

writer all except the Common Version render 
it, ^'Keep in thy name." Christ fulfilled the 
prophecy by manifesting the name of God to 
be the basis of the church title, and prayed the 
Father to keep the disciples in his name, that 
they might be one as he and the Father are one. 
Therefore, even in the name, perfect unity is 
provided for. The entire church is to be kept 
in the one name, as a means of its perfect one- 
ness. 

Though other names are not the chief cause 
of divisions, but more generally have come into 
use because the divisions have been fomented 
by some factious spirit or false doctrine, yet, 
nevertheless, party names have contributed 
their share to the making of sects. To say that 
rival names do not help to divide and to per- 
petuate division is to charge Christ with non- 
sense ; for why did he ])ray the Father to keep 
the disciples in his name, in order that they 
should be one, if they would have been one just 
the same under various names ? In other words, 
if oneness in name is not essential to oneness 
in faith, life, and spirit, why did the Savior pray 
for the former as a condition of the latter? We 
admit that sincere, humble children of God may 



76 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

mutually cherish much love and enjoy some fel- 
lowship with each other while under sectish 
names ; but such names are inconsistent with 
Bible unity, prevent its manifestation to the 
world, and become a wedge in the hands of 
Satan to separate and alienate. Yea, it is a 
fact clearly seen by spiritual men, that sect 
names are real idols that men worship and are 
exceedingly mad upon. But Christ has left no 
excuse for these names. In giving the one name 
for the church to be known by, he provides for 
her unity and condenms all divisions. 

^^K^ep them in thy name." The holy apos- 
tles held this prayer of their Lord in profound 
respect. Let us see how they understood and 
carried it out. ' ' Feed the church of God, which 
he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 
20:28. ^^The church of God which is at Cor- 
inth. ' ' 1 Cor. 1 : 2 and 2 Cor. 1:1. '' Give none 
offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gen- 
tiles, nor to the church of God." 1 Cor. 10: 32. 
^^We have no such custom, neither the churches 
of God." 1 Cor. 11:16. ^^ Despise ye the 
church of God ? " 1 Cor. 11 : 22. ^ ^ I persecuted 
the church of God." 1 Cor. 15:9. ^'Beyond 
measure I persecuted the church of God, and 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 77 

wasted it." Gal. 1:13. ^^For ye, brethren, 
became followers of the churches of God which 
in Judea are in Christ Jesus." 1 Thess. 2: 14. 
^^We ourselves glory in you in the churches of 
God. ' ' 2 Thess. 1:4. ^ ^ If a man know not how 
to rule his own house, how shall he take care 
of the church of God?" 1 Tim. 3:5. ^^That 
thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave 
thyself in the house of God, which is the church 
of the living God. ' ' 1 Tim. 3 : 15. 

The word ^^ church" frequently occurs with- 
out the qualifying part of the name; because, 
there being only one church that is of God, it 
was not necessary to designate it every time 
by its full name. But that men should not give 
some appellation of their own to the divine com- 
munity, we find it twelve times denominated 
' ' the church of God, ' ' according to the prayer of 
the Savior that it sliould be kept in the name of 
God, the Father. And lest men should ascribe 
this heavenly Jerusalem to some earthly god, 
it is once qualified in full— ^^ The church of the 
living God." This excludes all dead fraterni- 
ties of the dead gods of the nations. 

The name chosen by divine wisdom beauti- 
fully acknowledges the various relations of the 



78 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

church to God. To her it is said, ^^Thy niaker 
is thy husband." Is it not proper and right 
that the heavenly bride should honor her hus- 
band by assuming his name ? Again, the church 
is the family of God ; she therefore naturally in- 
herits the name of the Father. Because of both 
these relations, to assume any other name is to 
insult the jealous God, who will not give his 
glory to another. ^^For this cause," says the 
apostle, ^^I bow my knees unto the Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ; of [from] whom the whole 
family in heaven and earth is named." Eph. 
3 : l-l, 15. AVe have seen that the name was 
given by the mouth of the Lord Jesus, but was 
derived from the Father. This latter fact is 
clearly seen in the above passage when correctly 
rendered ; for the Greek preposition ez is defined 
the same as ek, and signifies, from, out of. Hence 
it expresses the source or derivation of the 
name. It is rendered ^^from" in the Emphatic 
Diaglott: ^'For this cause I bend my knees to 
the Father, from whom the whole family in the 
heavens and on earth is named." Thus also 
seven out of the twelve versions render it. We 
should also observe that this title, ' ' The church 
of God," acknowledges God as its founder, 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 79 

builder, and owner. It, therefore, not only lays 
an important foundation for the unity of all 
believers under the one and only Scriptural 
church cognomen, but also honors God as its 
author and possessor. Is there, then, no dif- 
ference in a name? Would a title that does not 
indicate whether the church originated from, 
and belongs to, God, man, or the devil, do equal 
honor to God with that which ascribes it wholly 
to him? 

The glorious institution that Jesus founded 
is a complete organization. Now, nothing could 
well take on regular organic form without des- 
ignating its name. Therefore about the first 
clause of every constitution of earthly organiza- 
tions, reads somewhat as follows : ' ' This society 
[corporation or joint stock company, etc] shall 
be known by the name of," etc. So when Je- 
sus, the Son of God, founded his heavenly Je- 
rusalem on earth, he put on record that this holy 
community should be kept in the name of the 
Father, and the apostles were inspired to word 
the name thus : ' ' The ekklesia of God. ' ' In this 
one name her oneness is to be maintained. Who- 
ever, therefore, imposes or assumes any other 
church title is not only guilty of disobeying the 



80 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

earnest desire of Christ, but also guilty of crea- 
ting or partaking of the enormous sin of schism. 
This is a matter of no small weight in the sight 
of God. 

4. The discipline. The fourth plank in the 
divine basis of oneness is the inspired discipline 
that the head of the church gave for its govern- 
ment. The Lord Jesus forever cut off all ex- 
cuse for his professed disciples to usurp the 
headship of his church by presuming to make 
laws and regulations for their own government. 
In the very prayer that pleads for their per- 
fect unity he says, ^^I have finished the work 
which thou gavest me to do. ' ' John 17 : 4. By 
reference to Deut. 18 : 15-19 it is seen that one 
thing the Father required of him was to speak 
unto the people all his new-covenant law. This 
he had therefore done. Yea, he saith, ^^I have 
given unto them the words which thou gavest 
me." ^'I have given them thy word." John 
17:8, 14. 

Having already shown the perfection and the 
infallibility of this divinely authorized disci- 
pline, we call attention to it here merely to show 
that nothing essential to the foundation of per- 
fect unity is unsupplied. Had the founder of 



ITS EISE AND PROGEESS, 81 

the church of God left her without a creed or 
system of cooperation, it might have been taken 
for granted that men were left at liberty to 
draft such rules and regulations as they thought 
best. In this case there would have been an ex- 
cuse for different creeds and for the resultant 
divisions. But Jesus has forever excluded all 
who would be lawmakers in the kingdom of 
heaven. 

** There is one body, and one Spirit, even as 
ye are called in one hope of your calling; one 
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Fa- 
ther of all, who is above all, and through all, 
and in you all. ' ' Eph. 4 : 4-6. What a beauti- 
ful picture of perfect unity! There is but one 
body, therefore to start another is to go out of 
the one; one Spirit, hence to admit another is 
to give place to the devil. There is one Lord; 
this ignores all the ecclesiastical lords and high 
officials that resolve themselves into a rival 
head and announce themselves ^Hhe law-making 
power of the church. '^ ^^One faith "—the faith 
once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3). By 
whom was it given? ^ ^ The Lord gave the word : 
great wtas the company of those that published 
it." Psa. 68: 11. This clearly defines the pre- 



82 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

rogative both of Christ and of all his minis- 
ters. As head of the body, he issues all laws. 
As simple messengers of the Lord, his ministers 
deliver and enforce his Word, without adding 
thereto or taking therefrom one jot or tittle. 
How utterly different the province of minis- 
terial duty as portrayed in the Word of God 
from that disgusting, God-dishonoring scheme 
of general and annual conferences and assem- 
blies of modem sectarians, wherein men usurp 
the office of Christ, the ^^one lawgiver"! 

There is ^^one faith, one baptism"; that is, 
the one faith of the gospel is publicly professed 
in the one literal ordinance of baptism. Hence 
when Satan infused party spirits into the disci- 
ples at Corinth, the apostle Paul reproved them 
by three questions: ^'Is Christ divided? was 
Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized 
in the name of Paul?" 1 Cor. 1: 13. The idea 
is this : Christ is not divided ; he only was cru- 
cified for them; and they all received the same 
ordinance of baptism. They could not be di- 
vided without going out of Christ and invent- 
ing a different baptism. Therefore it has come 
to pass that the modern factions ^^deny the Lord 
that bought them" and substitute the sacra- 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 83 

ments of Rome for the ordinances of Christ, 
especially that wherein we testify onr death to 
sin by burial with Christ in baptism. The Lord 
having given the same rule for all his disci- 
ples to walk by, and the Holy Spirit to guide 
each one into a knowledge of all this divine 
system of truth, there is here, again, no possi- 
ble excuse for division. Neither Christ, his 
Spirit, nor yet his Word causes divisions. These 
are all the result of carnality and of subscrib- 
ing to some tradition or creed of man. He, 
therefore, that subscribes to anything else than 
the inspired Word is guilty of the sin of division 
in the sight of Him who has made all provision 
for unity. 

5. Sanctification. We now come to the great 
condition and all-potent means of perfect unity. 
In the very midst of his quadruple prayer that 
we should be '^one as he and the Father are 
one," he thus implores the Father: ''Sanctifij 
them through thy truth : i\iy word is truth. And 
for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also 
might be sanctified through the truth." John 
17:17, 19. Here, we say, is secured to us the 
essential and all-sufficient means of producing 
perfect unity in all the body of Christ. First 



84 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

we will trace the blessed cause and effect in its 
negative virtues. In 1 Cor. 3: 3 and Gal. 5: 19, 
20, we see that factions, or heresies, are the 
works of the flesh, the fruits of the carnal mind. 
Entire sanctification destroys all divisions by 
removing the cause; for it cleanses the heart 
from all unrighteousness. But there is a posi- 
tive part t o this sanctifying work o f grace ; 
namely, the infilling of the Holy Spirit ; the re- 
turn of Christ from heaven in the power of the 
Comforter, bringing with him the Father. Thus 
his sanctified temples are filled '^with all the ful- 
ness of Grod." The perfect cleansing feature 
of the sanctifying grace removes all carnality, 
which is the cause of division, and the all-per- 
vading love of God, shed abroad in the heart 
by the Holy Spirit, brings all hearts into the 
same harmony that reigns in heaven, into per- 
fect unity, as the Father and Son are one. 

This is expressed in these words: ^^And the 
glory which thou gavest me I have given them ; 
that they may be one, even as we are one : I in 
them, and thou in me, that they may be made 
perfect in one; and that the world may know 
that thou hast sent me, and hast lov^d them, as 
thou hast loved me." John 17:22, 23. The 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 85 

glory which he has given to the church and 
which makes ns one as he and the Father, he 
thus defines: ^'I in them, and thou in me, that 
they may be made perfect in one. ' ' The unify- 
ing glory is the indwelling Grod ; for ' ' the Lord 
shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy 
God thy glory" (Isa. 60:19). In Luke 2:32 
Christ is declared to be, ^'A light to lighten the 
Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.'' 
And again, we read, ^^If ye be reproached for 
the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the spirit 
of glory and of God resteth upon you. ' ' 1 Pet. 
4 : 14. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit con- 
stitute the excellent glory that Jesus bequeathed 
to his church. Who dare say that this divine 
fulness is unable to produce the effect Christ 
said it would? 

^'But we all, with open face beholding as in 
a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
the same image from glory to glory, even as by 
the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3: 18. From 
^^ glory to glor^^" we receive the glory of the 
very image of Christ; namely, from the gloiy of 
justification into the glory of entire sanctifica- 
tion. ^^But we are bound to give thanks alway 
to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, 




86 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

because G od hath from the beginning chosen yon 
to salvation through sanctifieation of the Spirit 
and belief of the truth: whereunto he called 
you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory 
of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Thess. 2:13, 14. 
This very clearly shows that the glory of the 
Lord Jesus Christ is the infilling of the Holy 
Spirit, the Comforter. For our sanctifieation 
is ''to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 

This glory makes us all one as the Father and 
his Son. ' ' For it became him, for whom are all 
things, and by whom are all things, in bringing 
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of 
their salvation perfect through sufferings. For 
both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanc- 
tified are all of one: for which cause he is not 
ashamed to call them brethren. ' ' Heb. 2 : 10, 
11. Here again the glory and the grace of en- 
tire sanctifieation are spoken of as the same, 
and perfect oneness is its sure fruit. Christ and 
all that are wholly sanctified by him are of one, 
yea, of one Spirit, of one mind, of one faith, of 
one heart and soul, and all in ''one body," of 
which he is the head, and we are members in 
particular. If, therefore, Christ and his apostle 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 87 

tell us the truth, we are forced to the conclusion 
that all who are not thus made one, and who yet 
plead for sects, are not sanctified, not in pos- 
session of the glory. 

But let us hear the testimony of the Word 
once more: ^/And he gave some, apostles; and 
some, prophets ; and some, evangelists ; and 
some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting 
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for 
the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all 
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowl- 
edge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ. ' ' Eph. 4 : 11-13. Here again this beau- 
tiful fruit of perfected holiness is recorded; 
namely, unity. The various gifts of the minis- 
terial calling are all given of God, and all cen- 
ter in the paramount object of the perfection 
of the saints, in which experience they ^^all 
come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowl- 
edge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,'' a 
perfect body. Christ ^^made of twain [Jews 
and Gentiles] one new man, ' ' a new church ; and, 
thank God, he has provided for the perfect holi- 
ness and unity of this church of the new cove- 
nant. The perfection of the saints is attained 



88 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

in entire sanctification (Heb. 10: 14), and ^Hhe 
unity of the faith" is its inevitable fruit. The 
language implies two things: first, they are all 
brought into the one faith, the faith once for all 
delivered to the saints ; second, they are not left 
in various and conflicting views and interpreta- 
tions of the one faith. Nay, the '^ unity of the 
faith" implies one faith and a perfect uni- 
formity in the understanding of that faith. 

So we plant our feet on the sure Word of Grod 
and by its authority affirm that God has made 
full provision, in every respect, for the per- 
fect harmony in faith, life, and teaching of all 
who honestly wish to know the truth and obey 
the same. Therefore perfect unity is a law and 
characteristic of God's church in its normal con- 
dition. 

But before we pass from this point, we must 
expose the perverse reasonings of modem here- 
tics. In one strain of logic they affirm that it is 
all right for the Christian world to be divided 
into so many different shades of belief and to 
have such a variety of church organization ; that 
thereby the gospel has been more extensively 
spread and more people evangelized, because 
everybody can find a church to suit him. And 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 89 

when the Word of God is brought forward to 
show that all God's people should be one, they 
seek to cover the enormous sin of schisms by 
saying, ^^All God's people are one." Now while 
it must be admitted that in the hearts of all 
who possess any degree of saving grace there 
is a measure of inward fellowship and a ten- 
dency to draw together, it is equally true that 
there is such a thing as the sin of division. Had 
not Christ seen that it was possible for divisions 
to be brought in among his disciples, he would 
not have so earnestly prayed that they should 
all be one. It is also true that although there 
are men and women in the various organized 
divisions who have passed from death unto life, 
they can only "live at a poor dying rate'' while 
they are fenced apart by the party names and 
creeds. As we have said, the tendency of all 
who profess any measure of the love of God 
is to draw together and assemble together; but 
this very inward bent of the Spirit of God is 
denied this course by the control of party in- 
terests and party lords. And so the Spirit, 
grieved and hindered, gradually dies out of the 
heart, and the sectarian spirit only is left to 
animate the profession. 



90 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

So, then, be it understood (1) that perfect 
unity is the order of God's church and his 
will in all that believe; (2) that disciples of 
Christ may be in a scattered condition in sects, 
and are in all the Protestant sects, so far as 
real Christians compose their membership; (3) 
that where separations of any kind are brought 
in between truly converted men, the church is 
not in the normal state, and spiritual death must 
sooner or later ensue to the body thus disin- 
tegrated; and (4) that the forming of sects, or 
the organizing of divisions, both destroys the 
church and prevents the salvation of the world. 

THE CATHOLICITY OF THE CHURCH. 

The church of Grod contains all true believers. 
As salvation constitutes us members of it, all 
the saved are its members. No one can be a 
Christian outside of the divine church. The 
church is the body of Christ, and the body of 
Christ includes all the redeemed in heaven and 
earth. 

This is one of the principal distinguishing 
features between the true church and the false, 
between the divine ecclesia and man-made insti- 
tutions. This one truth, the catholicity of the 



ITS EISE AND PROGEESS. 91 

churcli of God, locates every sect. The church 
of God includes the family of God, and it is 
but one family in heaven and on earth; there- 
fore it includes in its membership every Chris- 
tian, all the redeemed in paradise and all the 
saved on earth. Including all Christians, it is 
not a sect, but is the whole. Now, a church that 
does not include in its membership all Chris- 
tians in heaven and earth can n o t be God's 
church, and hence it is a sect. All the religious 
denominations taken together come far short 
of including all Christians. Before any of these 
institutions arose, there were millions of Chris- 
tians. None of the blood- washed saints in para- 
dise are now members of any of these earth- 
born institutions; and right here upon earth 
there are tens of thousands of happy saints in 
robes of righteousness who have come out and 
stand clear of creed-bound churches, and there 
are many thousands of others who are saved 
from sin and have never joined any of them. 
Therefore all denominations put together, both 
Roman, Greek, and Protestant, do not consti- 
tute the universal cliurch, but arc only sects. 

In holding membershii) in the one uni\'ci-sal 
church and in no other, we stand clear oi' the 



92 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

sin of division; are members of no sect, but 
members of that church to which all the saved 
in heaven and earth belong. This is the one and 
only catholic church. The church of Rome has 
long laid claim to the title ^^ Catholic church/' 
but in doing so they have assumed a title that 
does not belong to them. They are a sect— a 
sect, too, that includes very few real Christians. 
The church of God is catholic not only in that 
it includes all Christians, but also in that it 
is destined to fill the whole earth. ^^And the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of 
the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be 
given to the people of the saints of the Most 
High." Dan. 7:27. ^^And the stone which 
smote the image upon the feet became. a great 
mountain and filled the whole earth." Dan. 2: 
35. These texts have direct reference to the 
universality of the church of God. 

Moreover, the religion of the church of God 
will apply to all men of all nations. The church 
of God gathers into her fold the rich and the 
poor, the educated and the illiterate, the high 
and the low— in short, all classes of all men. 
These, when saved, are on one common level of 
equality. Many of the religions of the world 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 93 

are local in their nature and apply only to cer- 
tain classes. These have adopted peculiar cus- 
toms, manners, and styles of dress. But Chris- 
tianity, the religion of the church of God is not 
local in any sense. It is the one universal re- 
ligion, the one religion that will apply to all 
classes of men. It imposes no peculiar customs, 
manners, or dress. Thus we see again the catho- 
licity of the church of God. 

THE EXCLUSIVENESS OF THE CHUKCH. 

The use of the term ' ' exclusiveness ' ' conveys 
the idea that all who are not in the church that 
Jesus founded are excluded from salvation and 
the Christian's hope. If any person is not dis- 
posed to comply with the conditions of mem- 
bership in God's church, he can turn aside and 
join some church that presents a wider door, 
but he can not thus obtain salvation. There is 
but one Savior of all men. ^^ There is none 
other name under heaven given among men 
whereby we must be saved." Those who are 
saved bj^ him are baptized, or inducted, by one 
Spirit into one body; so all who are outside of 
this one body are excluded from the grace of 
God. 



94 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Clirist is an exclusive Christ. There is no 
other besides him. God is an exclusive God. 
He says, '^I know no other." There was a time 
when certain people tried to compel Jehovah 
to fellowship and acknowledge their gods. For 
instance, the Philistines placed the ark of God 
in the house of Dagon, but Dagon could not 
stand before the God of heaven. The next morn- 
ing when the Philistines went to their temple 
they found Dagon fallen down before the Lord. 
They set him up in his place, but the following 
morning he was again fallen down, and nothing 
was left of him but a stump. This shows that 
God is an exclusive God. He acknowledges no 
other God. In order, then, to honor God we 
must reject all other gods and worship the Lord 
of heaven alone. There is but one Holy Spirit. 
The world today is filled with spirits, but in 
the midst of them all there is but one true Spirit 
of God, and in order to keep clear in our souls 
we must reject every other spirit. The faith 
that Christ gave us is an exclusive faith. No 
other saves the soul. The truth of God is ex- 
clusive in its nature. Everything contrary to 
it is false. The kingdom of Christ is exclusive. 
1 1 i s a stone that breaks everything else to 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 95 

pieces. The only ehTirch that Jesus founded and 
named is also exclusive, for there is only one 
body in Christ. 

During the reign of pagan persecution the rul- 
ers offered to stop the bloody martyrdom and 
allow the Christians to worship God in freedom 
if they would concede that the pagan idols also 
were real gods. This they could not do, but 
chose rather to die. It is this very point of ex- 
clusiveness that is the present offense of the 
cross. People would not seriously object to our 
setting forth God's church as described in the 
Scriptures if we would only recognize their 
earth-founded institutions as being also God's 
churches ; but this we can not do and be honest 
before God and faithful to his Word. There is 
one household of faith. Christ does not have a 
plurality of wives. He has but one bride, and 
she has no sisters. ^^My dove, my undefiled, is 
but one; she is the only one of her mother." 
S. of Sol. 6:9. It is true that there is in these 
last days a sisterhood of Christian bodies call- 
ing themselves churches, but the Lamb's wife 
knows no kin to them. They are an entirely 
different family. Their motlier is Mystery Bab- 
ylon, the mother of harlots. As God is one, 



96 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

only one religion can emanate from him. As 
God is not the author of confusion, his church 
can not be split into a confused lot of rival in- 
stitutions. He recognizes no sisterhood of 
churches. If, therefore, there is but one church 
that emanates from God, whence come the rest? 
Martin Luther would answer, '^Whatever is not 
of God is of the devil." Men come to us and 
say just what the devils besought of Christ— 
' ' ' Let us alone. ' Go and preach what you believe, 
but let everybody else alone." This is great 
blindness. If the true God would reign, Dagon 
and all other gods must fall down and have 
their heads broken off. If Christ be lifted up, An- 
tichrist must be demolished. The kingdom of God 
and the kingdom of darkness can not jointly 
flourish nor even coexist in the same heart. As 
the coming of light must dispel darkness, and 
the preaching of the truth must vanquish error ; 
so the church of the li^dng God must utterly ex- 
clude and antagonize every counterfeit church. 
Hence in the present evening light, which re- 
veals the true fold, ^^ every founder is con- 
founded by the graven image; for his molten 
image is falsehood, and there is no breath in 
them. They are vanity, and the work of errors : 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 97 

in the time of their visitation they shall perish" 
(Jer. 10: 14). That time is now come, for the 
preaching of the pillar and ground of the truth 
demolishes the work of error. 

Grod's church is exclusive like himself; and he 
who is not willing to commit himself exclusively 
to God and the church that Jesus purchased 
with his own blood, but for the friendship of 
the world and of the masses of sectarians enters 
the great wicked Babel of isms and by so doing 
avoids persecutions, is not fit for the kingdom. 
Though men have held a place both in God's 
church and in man's sects through ignorance, 
yet when the true light comes, they must cut 
loose from one or the other. If they then re- 
fuse to walk in the light, they will go into spir- 
itual darkness. 

The spirit of this age is to place Christ and 
Belial on an equality— to call everything that 
has a name to be religious God's church, and 
thus try to palm off upon the Almighty the cor- 
rupt works of the devil and insult his holiness 
by classifying witli his heaven-born church all 
the hypocrites and abominable characters taken 
into the false branches of Babj^lon; but "ihc 
Lord knoweth them that are his." 



98 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Tlie great congress of all religions held in 
1893 in Chicago at the World's Fair was a per- 
fect selling out of Christ. The representatives 
gatliered in that congress claimed to meet in 
one common brotherhood, thus forcing fellow- 
ship between light and darkness, Christ and Be- 
lial, God and idols, heaven and hell. Heathen 
idolaters, Shintoists and worshipers of all the 
ridiculous gods that Satan has invented met on 
one common level as one great family— an act 
which virtuallv denied the exclusiveness of the 
God of the Bible and placed God on the level 
with heathen idols. This, we say, was a slander 
on the name of Christ and wicked blasphemy in 
the sight of God. It virtually i3roves that Roman 
and Protestant Babylon have left God and gone 
over to the gods of Baal; for surely Christ is 
separate from all such, and the God of the Bi- 
ble is the only God, his church is the only true 
and safe fold, and the faith of Christ is alone 
from heaven. 

THE HOLINESS OF THE CHUBCH. 

This is the one all-important and absolutely 
essential attribute of the divine church. Before 
God put forth the first creative act in the forma- 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 99 

tion of this world, lie determined that its inhabi- 
tants should be holy. ^^ According as he hath 
chosen us in him before the foundation of the 
world, that we should be holy and without blame 
before him in love. ' ' Eph. 1 : 4. For this rea- 
son he created man in his own image— in his 
own moral likeness. And this image of God 
in which man was created and to which he is 
restored by the all-transforming and sanctify- 
ing grace of God is '^righteousness and true 
holiness" (Eph. 4:23). ''After God" must 
mean after the original pattern in which man 
was created— after the moral likeness of his 
own Maker, which is defined as "righteousness 
and true holiness." Col. 3:9, 10, leaves us no 
shadow of a doubt that this original God-like- 
ness, from which we have the word "godli- 
ness," is restored to the soul of man here in 
this life: "Seeing that ye have put off the old 
man [evil nature] with his deeds; and have i)ut 
on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge 
after the image of him that created liim/' Here 
we see that salvation in the second Adam brings 
back the holy image of God that man losl by 
sin in the first Adam. 

This moral perfection in man is essenlini to 



100 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

the very object of his being. '^And the Lord 
spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the 
congregation of the children of Israel, and say 
unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord 
your God am holy.'' Lev. 19: 1, 2. ^'But as he 
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in 
all manner of conversation; because it is writ- 
ten. Be ye holy ; for I am holy. ' ' 1 Pet. 1 : 15, 
16. Can any thoughtful mind read these words 
without receiving the impression that God crea- 
ted man to enjoy the blessing of fellowship 
and companionship with him? to enjoy the so- 
ciety of God and to be a ^'worker together with 
him" in carrying forward his beneficent plans? 
The imperative command is, ^'Be ye holy" ; and 
the one great and all-sufficient reason for the 
injunction is, ^^ Because I the Lord your God 
am holy." The import of the reason is this: 
Man was created to walk with God. God being 
holy, man also must be holy; otherwise there 
can be no affinity between God and man, no 
adaptation to each other's society. Therefore 
when our first parents by sin lost their holiness 
of heart, the image of God, they were spoiled 
for his heavenly society. They dreaded his ap- 
proach, and hid with fear and trembling when 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 101 

they heard his voice. They having now become 
unholy, his holiness drove them out from his 
presence. And let it here be considered that as 
heaven is filled with the holiness and presence 
of God, it is the utmost folly and delusion to 
cherish a hope of entering into its ineffable 
glory unless one is made perfect and spotless 
in holiness before God. ' ' Follow peace with all 
men, and holiness, without which no man shall 
see the Lord"; but ^^ blessed are the pure in 
heart, for they shall see God." 

For this great object was the church estab- 
lished here on earth. She is the mountain of 
God's own holiness, and her plane of moral per- 
fection is the plane of heaven. She is all one 
^^ family in heaven and earth," so that all who 
are in fellowship with her are in fellowship 
with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ (1 
John 1:3), and are consequently fitted for the 
enjoyment of all the holy society of heaven. 
The church of the living God is paradise re- 
stored on earth, a ^^new creation." No person 
can enter it except through salvation from all 
sin, and no person can remain in the church 
after he ceases to be holy, any more than Adam 
and Eve could remain in Eden aftei' thev bad 



102 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

become eornipted by sin. As their own sin 
made the presence of God unendurable and nec- 
essarily drove them out, so '^ every branch in 
Christ that bringeth not forth good fruit, the 
Father taketh away." There are, then, no ]m- 
holy branches in the Christ-vine. '^For if the 
first-fruit [Christ] be holy; ... so are the 
branches. ' ' Rom. 11 : 16. 

Persons belonging to the different religious 
organizations that men have founded, it is said, 
ought to be holy; but all the members of God's 
church are holy. When members of a modern 
sect are judged unworthy of membership, it is 
in the power of its rulers, by some course pre- 
scribed in their discipline, to expel such; but 
when men become unfit to dwell in the body of 
Christ, they thereby forfeit their membershix), 
and, so to speak, expel themselves. God's 
church is self-adjusting. '^Whosoever abideth 
in him sinneth not. " " He that committeth sin 
is of the devil." 1 Jolm 3:6, 8. By the 
act of sinning he transfers himself from the 
family of God to the family of Satan. ^^As the 
root is holy, so are also the branches." There- 
fore the unholy are not branches at all. 

The chief end of man's existence is to wor- 



ITS EISE AND PROaEESS. 103 

ship the Lord. But how must a holy God be 
worshiped? Answer: ^^ Worship the Lord in 
the beanty of holiness." Psa. 29: 2. ^^0 worshi]) 
the Lord in the beauty of holiness ; fear before 
him all the earth. ' ' Psa. 96 : 9. The same in sub- 
stance is required by the Savior in the absolute 
demand, ' ' God is a Spirit, and they that worship 
him, must worship him in spirit and in truth." 
Since God's church is on the plane of spiritual 
worship to God, it is holy in his sight. 

The church is also seen to be holy unto God 
because he walks in the midst of her. ^ Where 
two or three meet in my name, there am I in 
the midst of them.' 'And I will manifest my- 
self unto you as I do not unto the world. ' These 
and similar statements show a social communion 
between God and his people in the new Jeru- 
salem, which is the church of the first-born; 
and holiness is just as essential now to the en- 
joyment of the society of God as it was when 
its loss drove Adam and Eve from his ])res- 
ence. 

But still more strikingly does the holiness of 
God's church on earth appear when wo considoi* 
it as the actual dwelling-place of dod. ''In 
whom ye also are builded together for n Imbi- 



104 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

tation of God through the Spirit." ^'As God 
hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in 
them. ' ' Can any person conceive of God dwell- 
ing in any other than a holy temple ? Nay, ' ' the 
temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 
1 Cor. 3 : 17. Neither can a few unholy ones 
pass under cover of the general holiness of oth- 
ers. Had there been a thousand holy men in 
Eden, they would have intensified rather than 
decreased the fire of God's holy presence and 
would have made the place all the more unen- 
durable to the sinner. So no hypocrite can 
smuggle himself into the awful temple of God's 
presence. To the unholy ^^God is a consuming 
fire." ^'Therefore the ungodly shall not stand 
in the judgment, nor sinners in the congrega- 
tion of the righteous. ' ' Psa. 1 : 5. There never 
was nor ever can be a sinner or unholy person 
in the church, which is the body of Christ. Such 
characters may and do assemble with the church, 
and may seek to pass for members of the body, 
and where the church is deficient in discerning, 
such may actually pass undetected, but they are 
not in the church. 

The foregoing is apparent when we consider 
what constitutes membership in any society. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 105 

First, the conditions and process of becoming 
a member must be met ; and, secondly, the name 
must be entered on the roll of membership. 
Therefore the class-book of any sect decides who 
are and who are not its members. No mat- 
ter how much a man may affirm his member- 
ship, if his name is not recorded in the class- 
book, his claim is false; and no difference how 
vile a character may be, if his name stands on 
the book, he is a member, even though the so- 
ciety be ashamed to confess the fact. Now, it 
is by these same two tests that we define mem- 
bership in God's church. First, all must enter 
through Christ, the only door, and by the pro- 
cess of salvation (John 10: 9; Eph. 2: 18) ; for 
there is no other possible admittance. Second, 
he must have his name in the Lamb's book of 
life; for there is no other enrollment of the 
names of all the household of God. Thus no 
one can enter except by obtaining salvation, and 
all that are thus bom of God do not commit sin, 
but are '^holy brethren"; and, furthermore, no 
sinner or hypocrite has deceived God and got 
his name written down in heaven, and whoso- 
ever commits sin and does not continue to over- 
come, that man's name is blotted out of tlie book 



106 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

of life. '^And the Lord said unto Moses, Who- 
soever hath sinned against me, him will I blot 
out of my book" (Ex. 32:33); but ^^he that 
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white 
raiment; and I will not blot out his name out 
of the book of life. ' ' Rev. 3 : 5. There are, then, 
no sinners' names continued on the book of 
God's church, nor names of any who have been 
overcome by the devil or any evil agent. There 
is not an unholy member in the church of God. 
She is a ^^ spiritual house, an holy priesthood/' 
^^a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an 
holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). 
Yea, saith her Lord, ^^Thou art all fair, my 
love ; there is no spot in thee. " S. of Sol. 4 . 7. 

UlSrCHANGEABLENESS OF THE CHUECH. 

Though great and popular counterfeits of the 
church have been formed on earth, which are very 
mutable in all their elements ; though it is true 
that the real membership of God's church m-ay 
increase and decrease in numbers, and that dur- 
ing the middle ages the saints were trodden 
down and so worn-out by the persecuting pow- 
ers of darkness that but few remained on earth 
"to keep alive the holy seed; yea, and though it 



L 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 107 

is also true that nearly all the doctrines and 
principles of the church of the living Grod were 
trodden under foot by the adversary and almost 
entirely hidden beneath the traditions and the 
inventions of men, yet it still remains true that 
every doctrinal element of the divine structure 
is eternal and unchangeable. Many factious 
bodies have arisen since Christ purchased and 
founded his holy community, but ^'the portion 
of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former 
of all things ' ' ( Jer. 51 : 19 ) . The fold of Christ 
is the same thing on earth today that she was 
before the first ' ' molten image ' ' of sectism was 
evolved from strife and spiritual ignorance. 
We have seen that God is the builder and maker 
of the church ; and the wise man says, ' ' I know 
that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever : 
nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken 
from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear 
before him. That which hath been is now; and 
that which is to be hath already been; and God 
requireth that which is past." Eccl. 3: 14: 15. 
It looks, indeed, as if these words were placed 
on record to rebuke all the founders of new 
sects and inventors of new creeds, and also to 
vindicate the unchangeable chui'ch of God. 



108 THE CHBISTIAN CHURCH: 

The law of Moses was given for a temporal 
purpose and for a limited time. ' ' It was added 
because of transgressions [to restrain sinful 
deeds], till the seed should come." Gral. 3: 19. 
That seed is Christ (verse 16). So the law 
system was to remain only until Christ should 
come, and it was supplanted by the new cove- 
nant, the law of Christ. While it was in force, 
however, no man could set it aside, add to it, or 
take from it. But the Christian system con- 
stitutes the law of the kingdom of God, which 
shall ^^ stand forever"; therefore it ^' shall be 
forever. ' ' An attempt to change one word of it 
is sure death to the soul. Even the pope, with 
all his boasted power, is unable to change the 
eternal laws of the kingdom of heaven, though 
he shall ^' think to change times aad laws" (Dan. 
7:25). No power short of the throne of 
God can change one thing in the divine 
church. 

The same self-denial, and repentance, and ut- 
ter forsaking of all sin, that were conditions 
of entering the church at the beginning must be 
met today. The same experience of entire sanc- 
tification and holy character demanded then is 
yet required and fully provided for in God's 



ITS RISE AND PROaRESS. 109 

cliTircli. ^^No man can serve two masters" now 
any more than when Christ uttered the saying. 
Although Satan has deceived the mass of sec- 
tarian professors into the false belief that they 
can serve sin and Christ right along together- 
sin daily in word, thought, and deed, and yet be 
Christians— but the Book has not changed, and 
it is still true that ' ' he that committeth sin is of 
the devil." The same purity, unity, glory, 
power, and perfect peace, that God put in his 
church are yet there, though only appropriated 
by few men on earth. The miraculous gifts that 
the Lord set in the body have never been taken 
out. Grifts of wisdom, of knowledge, of healing, 
of discerning of spirits, and of casting out devils 
—all these are yet in the church, notwithstand- 
ing the teaching of sectarians to the contrary. 
Not finding these gifts in their bodies, they have 
taught that God has recalled such things. He 
has never promised to set in men's structures 
what he has placed in his own church. But 
since we have returned from Babylon to (he 
heavenly Jerusalem, we find all the precious 
gifts yet remaining in it and awaiting the faith 
once delivered to the saints to grasp them and 
develop them into use. There is not one noii- 



110 THE CHEISTIAX CHURCH: 

essential incorporated into the Word of God, nor 
yet one element that was to drop out after the 
death of the ajDOstles or at any subsequent 
time. 

The inspired apostle Paul, speaking of the 
new-testament ordinances, said to the Corinthi- 
ans, ^'For I have received of the Lord that 
which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord 
Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, 
took bread," etc. 1 Cor. 11: 23. And in verse 
2 he commanded them, saying, ^^Keep the or- 
dinances, as I delivered them unto you."' So 
God's people are not left at liberty to modify 
one of the ordinances in the least, much less to 
substitute the sprinkling rite of jDaganism and 
Romanism for the sacred ordinance of burial 
with Christ in baptism. How presumptuous it 
is to cast away one of the ordinances of Christ, 
as the largest portion of professors do, or all 
of them, as the Quakers and a few others do, 
taking the ridiculous position that the law of 
Christ met with a re^-ision some time after the 
apostles died! How directly opposite to the 
words of Christ this falsehood! Thus we read: 
*'For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink 
this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. Ill 

come." And the command to baptize all who 
believe in Christ is incorporated in the com- 
mission which authorizes the perpetual minis- 
try and to which is subjoined the promise, ^^Lo, 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world. Amen. ' ' 

So the obligation to administer the ordinance 
of baptism extends parallel with the commis- 
sion to preach th^ gospel to the end of the 
world; and so of every element of the entire 
divine system. There is not a mutable factor 
in it. This fact is clearly established in Jude 
3: ^^ Beloved, ... I was constrained to write unto 
you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the 
faith which was once for all delivered unto the 
saints." The verb ^^ delivered" is in the aorist 
tense and therefore denotes that it was ^'deliv- 
ered once for all," as rendered in the Revised 
Version and nearly all other translations. If it 
was delivered once for all, it is therefore un- 
changeable to the end of time. Even the lan- 
guage of the Common Version, ^^once delivered 
unto the saints," conveys that idea. So 
we repeat that the church as it stood in its 
primitive glory and unity exists unchanged to- 
day. 



112 THE CHEISTIAN CHTJECH: 

rNDESTEXrCTIBrLITY OF THE CHITICH. 

Upon the erroneous supposition that the chnrch 
which Christ built was entirely destroyed Mor- 
monism has built her house. Her adherents 
maintain that the apostasy destroyed the 
church, that hence it became necessary for man 
to build another, and that under divine inspira- 
tion Joseph Smith reestablished the church of 
God upon earth. Now, if we can prove that the 
church of God has never been destroyed, but 
that it exists today, we shall establish the fact 
that all the Moimon sects are but human frauds 
imposed upon the people. 

In Dan. 2 : -i4 the new-testament church was 
prophesied of as a kingdom set up by the God 
of heaven, a kingdom which should never be 
destroyed, but should stand forever. This 
accords with the language of Jesus in Matt. 
16:18: ^^And I say also unto thee, That thou 
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it.'' These solemn declarations of heav- 
en's truth are sufficient to establish the fact 
that the church which Christ built will stand 
forever. If the gates of hell can not prevail 
against it, it is indestructible and exists today. 



ITS EISE AND PEOGEESS. 113 

Yes, dear reader, that divine temple stands just 
as solid and firm as in days of yore. Though 
it has witnessed bloody scenes of martyrdom 
and has for centuries been largely hidden from 
human view by the ecclesiastical rubbish of 
men, yet it has never been destroyed— never. 
Earthly kingdoms and governments have 
passed away; great and mighty changes have 
been wrought in the earth; but the church of 
God has stood unshaken ; and now, as the burn- 
ing truth of God consumes the piles of ecclesi- 
astical rubbish, and the glorious light of the 
evening-time dispels the mists and fogs of the 
dark and cloudy days, she appears again in her 
wondrous beauty and pristine glory. So shall 
she stand while the cycles of eternity roll. 

Let us briefly view the elements that compose 
the church. Christ is its head (Col. 1:18), 
foundation (1 Cor. 3: 11), door (John 10: 7, 9), 
and governor (Isa. 9:6, 7). Its walls are sal- 
vation (Isa. 26: 1) ; its law is the law of Christ 
(Gal. 6:2); its bond of union is the love of 
God (Col. 2:2); its membership consists of the 
saved of all nations. Now, to destro\' tlie 
church would be to destroy its foundation, which 
the apostle Paul declares '^standeth sure''; its 



114 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

head, which is alive forever more; its door, 
which no man can shut ; its law, which endureth 
forever; its walls, salvation; and all the people 
of God, who compose it. Since, however, there 
never has been a time when God did not have 
a people, and since all the above-named ele- 
ments are eternal, the church of God is inde- 
structible. Its walls of salvation no man can 
batter down. 

Only one phase of the church went into apos- 
tasy, the people, and not all of them ; for three 
million, rather than bow down and acknowl- 
edge the ungodly doctrine of popery, sealed 
their testimony with their own blood. The foun- 
dation, head, door, government, unity, purity, 
etc., of the church never went into apostasy; 
and in these last days when we come out of the 
apostasy we simply return to these primitive 
elements again. We come to the same Zion 
that Christ established in the beginning. 

The church of God is a spiritual institution. 
^^ Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual 
house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual 
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'' 
1 Pet. 2 : 5. Its door of admission is a spiritual 
door. Jesus says, ^^I am the door. By me if 



k. _ 



mi 



ITS EISE AND PEOGEESS. 115 

any man enter in, he shall be saved." John 
10 : 9. '' For by one Spirit are we all baptized 
into one body. ' ' 1 Cor. 12 : 13. Its foundation 
is spiritual. ^ ' For other foundation can no man 
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ' ' 1 
Cor. 3 : 11. '' That spiritual Eock that followed 
them, and that Eock was Christ." 1 Cor. 10: 4. 
Thus we cover every specification of the New 
Testament church and find it holy, divine, spir- 
itual, and eternal; therefore it is utterly impos- 
sible for men to build an organization like it, 
for they can not manufacture spiritual things. 
This church is the finest organization the world 
has ever seen. It is truly worthy of God him- 
self. It is his temple, in which he dwells ; there- 
fore there is nothing so august as the church, 
seeing it is the temple of God ; nothing so worthy 
of reference, seeing God dwells in it ; and noth- 
ing so solid, since Jesus only is its foundation, 
and it is declared to be the pillar and ground 
of the truth. There is nothing so closely united 
and indivisible, since all hearts are knit together 
by the perfect love of God ; nothing more lofty, 
since it reaches higher than heaven; noth- 
ing so regular and well-proportioDcd, since 
Christ and the Holy Spirit are the archi- 



116 THE CHEISTIAX CHUECH: 

teets; nothing so beautiful, since it is orna- 
mented with Christ's holiness; nothing so bril- 
liant, since Christ is its light ; nothing so strong, 
since Christ is its walls and bulwarks. There is 
no institution so sioacious since it is spread 
over the whole world and takes in all that have 
washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb; no institution so spiritual, 
since all its membership are living stones, ani- 
mated and inhabited by the Holy Spirit ; no in- 
stitution so lasting, since it is destined to stand 
forever. In it the poor, the wretched, and the 
distressed of every nation find shelter. It is 
the place where God does his marvelous works, 
for there he is to be sought and found and wor- 
shiped. Such is the church of the New Testa- 
ment. She is a strong tower, into which we 
have run and are safe. 

PEEPETUITY OF THE CHUECH. 

This feature of the church we have already 
gathered from the preceding chapter ; for if the 
elements of the church are eternal—and it is 
indestructible in its very nature— then its per- 
petuity follows as a natural result. In Dan. 
7:18 it is said, ''But the saints of the Most 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 117 

High shall take the kingdom, and possess the 
kingdom forever, even forever and ever. ' ' This 
text teaches the fact that Christianity was to con- 
tinue eternally. The same we have in Luke 1 : 
31, 33: ^^He [Jesus] shall be great, and shall 
be called the Son of the Highest : and the Lord 
God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David: and he shall reign over the house of 
Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall 
be no end. ' ' The kingdom and the church are in 
some respects identical. They are inclusive of 
each other. Christ established the everlasting 
kingdom of God, planted his church in the earth, 
and began his reign of righteousness and salva- 
tion in the beginning of this dispensation; and 
the above texts assert that his kingdom and his 
reign are to continue forever. Therefore the 
perpetuity of the church is assured. 

In the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, the 
pure church of God is brought to view under 
the symbol of a woman clothed with the sun 
and having the moon under her feet, etc. That 
woman was the primitive church ari'ayed with 
the light of salvation, purity, and holiness, and 
with the authority a n d the power o i' Jesus 
Christ, her husband. Verse (I savs: '^The 



118 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath 
a place prepared of God, that they should feed 
her there a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days.'' Verse 14 reads, ^'And to the 
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, 
that she might fly into the wilderness, into her 
place, where she is nourished for a time, and 
times, and half a time, from the face of the ser- 
pent. " This wilderness signifies the obscurity 
into which the true church went and in which 
she remained during the dark reign of apostasy. 
Although during the Dark Ages there were true 
disciples of Christ that never embraced the ab- 
surdities of the Roman church, among whom 
we mention the Cathri, the poor men of Lyons, 
the Lombards, Albigenses, Waldenses, Baudis, 
etc., yet ^^the living church retired gradually 
within the lonely sanctuary of a few hearts, and 
the external church was substituted in its place, 
and all its forms were declared to be of divine 
appointment."— D'Aubigne's Historj^ of the 
Reformation, book I, chap. I. ^' There existed 
at that dark period, when ^all the world won- 
dered after the beast,' a numerous body of the 
disciples of Christ who took the New Testa- 
ment for their guidance and direction in all af- 



ITS EISE AND PEOGRESS. 119 

fairs of religion, rejecting the doctrines and 
commandments of men. Their appeal was from 
the decision of councils and the authority of 
popes, cardinals, and prelates to the law and the 
testimony, the words of Christ and his apos- 
tles."— History of Romanism by Dowling, page 
272. 

Thus the church of God existed during the 
reign of popery, and in the place prepared of 
God she was nourished and kept alive ^^for a 
time, and times, and half a time.'' During this 
long period, however, she was largely in ob- 
scurity, symbolized by '' wilderness." Though 
the church was largely obscured during the 
reign of apostasy, being hidden under the hu- 
man rubbish and creeds of men, and though 
during the reign of Protestant sectism her mem- 
bers have been scattered in the various so-called 
Christian societies, so that really the true church 
has not shone forth in her visible beauty; yet 
she has existed, and thus has been perpetuated 
that true Christianity and church which Christ 
established in the earth; and in these last days 
the same church is coming up out of the wilder- 
ness and returning to the unity, purity, holi- 
ness, organization, and oneness of primitive 



120 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

days. Thus is fulfilled the prophecy in Solo- 
mon's Songs 8:5: '^Who is this that cometh 
up from the wilderness, leaning upon her be- 
loved?" Christ is the one who is leading her 
out. 

So in these last days the church of God, in 
her gathered condition, is a visible organized 
body of believers, distinct and separate from 
all the religious bodies of human origin ; and she 
is the same church, the bride of Christ, the iden- 
tical woman that was seen in symbol (Rev. 
12:1) in her primitive glory, and afterwards 
nourished in t h e wilderness, or state of ob- 
scurity, during a long period of apostasy, and 
now again brought back to the apostolic plane, 
looking fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and 
terrible as an army with banners. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 121 

Figures in which the New Testament Church 
is Presented. 

A number of figures are used in the New 
Testament in presenting the church of God, and 
by these it is brought to view in all of its dif- 
ferent phases. The first of these that we will 
consider is 

A BODY. 

Salvation constitutes us members of the 
church of God, and to those who have thus been 
saved out of the world and sin the Lord has 
given certain names or titles to distinguish them 
from others. In the New Testament God's peo- 
ple are termed Christians, disciples, brethren, 
saints, friends, and pilgrims. Each of these 
terms has its special signification. We are 
termed Christians to signify that the people of 
God are like Christ— demonstrate his charac- 
ter, life, and disposition to men. AVe are termed 
disciples, a word which means learners, to sig- 
nify that the moment we are saved we ouicv 
the school of Christ and are tauglit oi' (iod. We 
are termed })ilgrims to signify tlinl lliis world 
is not our final destiny; that we are 1 r;i\'(^liiig 



122 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

to a better country, namely, a heavenly. We 
are termed friends to signify that, while at one 
time we were enemies and strangers, we have, 
through salvation, been reconciled to God and 
are no longer enemies, but are his friends. We 
are termed brethren to signify our relationship 
to the Lord and to each other. We are also 
termed saints, a word which means a holy one, 
to signify that all who are saved live sinless 
lives. 

Now these saints, or Christians, who are by 
salvation called out from sin and the world, 
joined to the Lord and to one another by the 
bond of love and heavenly fellowship, consti- 
tute a body. Whether viewed in a universal 
way, as all the saved on earth gathered into the 
one fold of Christ and the one faith of the gos- 
pel, or in a local sense, as a body of people in 
any city, town, or country place, who are saved 
of God and assemble together to worship the 
Lord in the beauty. of holiness, they constitute 
a body, a saved body of believers. ^^So we, 
being many, are one body in Christ, and every 
one members one of another. ' ' Rom. 12 : 5. 
^^Now ye are the body of Christ, and members 
in particular." 1 Cor. 12:27. So God's saved 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 123 

people constitute the body of Christ. This, of 
course, includes all the saved. 

In Rom. 12 : 4, 5, the apostle Paul represents 
the church by the human body. He says, ''As 
we have many members in one body, and all 
members have not the same office, so we [God's 
people] being many, are one body in Christ, and 
every one members one of another." Here we 
see that the same close relationship that exists 
between the members of our physical body ex- 
ists between the members of the spiritual body, 
the church. Our physical body is a perfectly 
organized body. Though composed of many 
members, yet these members constitute but one 
body. Not all have the same office. The hands 
can not perform the work of the feet, the feet the 
work of the eye, the eye the work of the ear, 
nor the ear the work of the mouth. Yet all 
these members work in perfect harmony. Just 
so it is with the church of God. There are many 
members; not all have the same office. ''God 
hath set every member in the body [the church] 
as it pleaseth him"— apostles, prophets, evan- 
gelists, pastors, and teachers, etc.; some to at- 
tend to spiritual affairs, and some to labor witli 
their hands, earning the necessary iiu^-uis for 



124 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

the spread and the support of the gospel. But 
while we have different offices and different 
work, as with the members of our physical bod- 
ies, we are all one harmonious whole, every 
member filling his place and every one members 
one of another. In the physical body, if one 
member suffers, all the members suffer with it. 
Just so it is in this spiritual body, the church: 
^^ whether one member suffers, all the members 
suffer with it." There is a close affinity, a 
blessed relationship, existing between the mem- 
bers of Christ. 

Having seen that the truly saved constitute 
a body and that this body is the body of Christ, 
we will now prove the same to be the church. 
^^Who now rejoice in my suffering for you, and 
fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of 
Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is 
the church." Col. 1:24. ^^And hath put all 
things under his feet, and gave him to be head 
over all things to the church, which is his body, 
the fulness of him that filleth all in all. ' ' Eph. 
1 : 22, 23. The church is the body of Christ, 
and, being the body of Christ, it necessarily in- 
cludes all the members. It follows, then, that 
any institution which does not constitute the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 125 

body of Christ is not the church. In order to 
become a member of the church we must become 
a member of Christ's body, and the moment we 
are thus made members of his body we'become 
members of his church. As before stated, sal- 
vation constitutes us members of the hodj of 
Christ, the church. The moment an individual 
is saved that moment he becomes a church-mem- 
ber. If in India or Africa a heathen who has 
never met a Christian, but who has received a 
copy of the New Testament, becomes convicted 
of sin through reading the gospel, and repents, 
and meets every required condition for salva- 
tion, the instant that heathen man is converted 
to God he then and there is made a member of 
the body of Christ, the church. 

The Lord saves people into but one body. In 
fact, in his Word he recognizes but one body. 
^^ There is one body. Eph. 4:4. '^Tlie body is 
one." 1 Cor. 12:12. ''For by one Spirit are 
we all baptized into one body, whether we be 
Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; 
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. " 
1 Cor. 12: 13. ''And let the peace of (lod rule 
in your hearts, to the which also ye are called 
in one body; and be ye thankful.'" Co\. 'A: IT). 



126 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

' ' For he is our peace, who hath made both one. 
and hath broken down the middle wall of par- 
tition between us; . . . for to make in himself 
of twain one new man, so making peace; and 
that he might reconcile both unto God in one 
body by the cross, having slain the enmity 
thereby. ' ' Eph. 2 : 14-16. From these and many 
other texts we see that Christ has but one body, 
and hence but one church. It is his body, hence 
his church. All others are but rival churches, 
earth-bom institutions. All others have come 
into existence since Christ organized his own 
body. Irrespective of nationality, race preju- 
dice, or any of these things, through salvation 
all men of all classes are reconciled unto God in 
one body by the cross. That one body is his 
church. ^^But now are we many members, yet 
but one body." 1 Cor. 12:20. 

This body, the church, is a perfectly organized 
body. All bodies of men banded together in an 
organized form must necessarily have a head or 
heads. So with the body of Christ, the church. 
^'And he is the head of the body, the church: 
who is the beginning, the first-born from the 
dead; that in all things he might have the pre- 
eminence. ' ' Col. 1 : 18. " But speaking the 



1 




ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 127 

truth in love, may grow up into him in all 
things, which is the head, even Christ: from 
whom the whole body fitly joined together and 
compacted by that which every joint sup- 
plieth, according to the effectual working in 
the measure of every part, maketh increase of 
the body unto the edifying of itself in love." 
Eph, 4 : 15, 16. What the head is to the human 
body— the seat of intelligence and the center 
of control, all the members of the body moving 
at its dictation — Christ is to his church. 
Christ is the center from which all the members 
of the body act and move in their several ca- 
pacities in the spiritual work of God. One head 
supposes but one body ; hence Christ is the head 
of only one body, the church. Since Christ is 
the head of but one bodj^, and that one body is 
the body of Christ, all other bodies called 
churches do not hold Christ as the living head. 
Not only do we see the organization of the 
church in the fact that it has a living head, but 
God sets in this body members to act and work, 
and their work is conducive to the edification 
of the body entire. '^Ye are the body of Christ, 
and members in particular." It is God wlio 
sets the members in the body, and it is he who 



128 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

assigns tliem their work and office, making 
'^some apostles, some evangelists, some pastors 
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, 
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of 
the body of Christ.'' 

Thus the church of God is presented under 
the figure of a body to show that it is perfectly 
organized in every particular, divinely so, and 
needs no tinkering of men, as it is perfect in 
itself. The fact is, sectarian institutions are to 
the body of Christ what wooden crutches would 
be to a sound man. Modern theology teaches 
us that these institutions are necessary to the 
organization and the perfect working of the 
church. If this is so, how is it that the church 
of God got along so well for centuries before 
sects arose? The fact is that the church of God 
in itself is a perfectly organized body ; and, with 
all the inventions and ingenuity of men, they 
have never been able to improve upon that or- 
ganization. Wooden crutches are no part of 
the human body. A man might argue that they 
are necessary for the speedy travel of man 
through the world, but such argument would 
not appear reasonable to an intelligent man 
Y/ith sound limbs and body. He would say. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 129 

^^The crutches retard my progress, hinder my 
work." Just so with sectarian institutions; 
they retard and hinder the progress of the 
church of God. It is a sound body in itself; 
there is not a crippled limb or member in it. 
^Vhile for centuries men have been inventing 
human props and crutches, and compelling the 
church to limp along upon these, thank God, 
the time has come when the church of God is 
casting off all these inventions of men and again 
walking erect. 

A HOUSE. 

One of the figures under which the new-testa- 
ment church is presented is that of a house. 
A house is a place of abode. Since, therefore, 
the church in this dispensation is the abode of 
God himself, it is his house. Under the old- 
testament dispensation the Lord was pleased to 
dwell among his people. Therefore he instructed 
Moses to build him a house— i)itch a tabernack\ 
which was to be sanctified with the blood of 
animals and with his glory. Into this tent or 
house the Lord moved and there lie dw^elt nmoiii;- 
liis people. Later a temple was erected n1 Ji^ 
rusalem by Solomon, and this more spacious 



130 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

structure became the house of God in that dis- 
pensation. This house, however, was but a type 
or shadow of a greater and more perfect tab- 
ernacle, which the Lord was to pitch, and not 
man. In the old-testament dispensation God 
dwelt in the midst of his people, but in this 
dispensation of holiness and purity he dwells 
in the hearts of his people. Accordingly, we 
read in 2 Cor. 6:16, ^^For ye are the temple 
of the living God; as God hath said, I will 
dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be 
their God, and they shall be my people." 

The reason why God could not dwell in the 
hearts of men during the legal dispensation was 
that all men were under the dominion and power 
of sin. The blood of atonement offered in that 
age was not sufficient fully to eradicate sin from 
the hearts of the people; and as the place of 
God's dwelling must be holy, it was impossible 
for him to dwell in the human soul. Hence a 
house was built and sanctified, set apart for 
his indwelling, and thus he moved in and dwelt 
among his people. But now we have reached 
the dispensation of full salvation— the dispen- 
sation in which the hearts of men can be cleansed 
and purified from all sin. Yea, ''the blood of 



ITS EISE AND PROORESS. 131 

Jesus Christ, Ms Son, cleanseth us from all 
sin''; and ^^ being made free from sin and be- 
come servants to G od, ' ' we become fit places for 
the Most High to inhabit. Therefore he says 
of his people, ^ Ye are the temple [or house] of 
the living God. I will dwell in them.' 

In Eph. 4 : 6 we further read, ' ' One God and 
Father of all, who is above all, and through 
all, and in you all. ' ' From this text it is made 
clear that God, the Father, dwells in his peo- 
ple in this dispensation. It is also true that 
Christ dwells in the hearts of his people. Ac- 
cordingly, we read in Eph. 3 : 17, '^ That Christ 
may dwell in your hearts by faith," and in 2 
Cor. 13: 5, ^^Know ye not yourselves, how that 
Jesus Christ is in you except ye be reprobates ? ' ' 
The Holy Spirit also dwells in the hearts of 
the fully saved, ' ' even the Spirit of truth, whom 
the world can not receive, because it seeth him 
not, neither knoweth him. But ye know him ; 
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." 
Thus we see that the Holy Trinity— Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost— dwells in the hearts of 
his people. So it is our privilege to "he filled 
with all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3: 19). 

From the above scriptures we draw the con- 



132 THE CHRLSTIAX CHTECH: 

elusion that, since God dwells in the hearts of 
his people, they constitute his house. This posi- 
tion is sustained by plain scriptures. "Ye are 
God^s husbandry, ye are God's building." 1 
Cor. 3 : 9. And in Heb. 3 : 6 it is said of Christ 
that he is "'a Son over his own house, whose 
house are we." Thus it is made clear that in 
this dispensation the people of God constitute 
the house of God. This is true both individu- 
ally and collectively. Xot only does God dwell 
in his people as individuals, but he dwells in 
his church as a body, as a collective body of 
true believers. Accordingly, we read. "Te also, 
as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, 
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacri- 
fices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 
Pet. 2 : 5. In this dispensation the Most High 
''dwelleth not in temples made with hands, ^' as 
under the legal, but in a spiritual house made 
up of living stones, and these living stones are 
none other than the people of God. Again, we 
read, '*In whom all the building, fitly framed 
together, groweth imto an holy temple in the 
Lord ; in whom also ye are builded together for 
a habitation of God through the Spirit.'' The 
reader will observe that God dwells in his church 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 133 

collectively. The entire body of believers are 
said to be bnilded together in a holy temple, for 
a habitation of Grod through the Spirit. This 
makes clear why the people of God constitute 
and are termed in this dispensation the house 
of God. Christ is said to be ^^an high priest 
over the house of God" (Heb. 10: 21). This is 
the church. ' ' But if I tarry long, that thou may- 
est know how thou oughtest to behave thyself 
in the house of God, which is the church of the 
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. ' ' 
1 Tim. 3 : 15. The house of God is the church 
of God, and God's people constitute the same. 

This house was built by Christ. Therefore 
the apostle says, ^^Ye are God's building." Man 
may build many structures and call them 
churches, but there is one which belongs to the 
Lord alone. It is the tabernacle which the Lord 
pitched, and not man. Hence it is God's build- 
ing. In Heb. 3 : 4 it is said, ' ' For every house 
is built by some man ; but he t h a t built all 
things is God." Since Christ is the builder of 
his house (church), it necessarily belongs to 
him, and it is the only house, or church, that 
does belong to him. 

Under this figure the unity and oneness of the 



134 THE CHRISTIAN CHTJECH: 

church is again clearly brought out; for every- 
where in the Scriptures the church is presented 
under the figure of one house— one house of 
God. He dwells in but one, he built but one, 
he recogTiizes but one; therefore all structures 
built by man to be a habitation of God are nec- 
essarily void of his presence. 

The organization of God's church also is 
beautifully portrayed under this figure. For 
as a house is built, it must necessarily be or- 
ganized. Therefore we read in Eph. 2:21, '^ In 
whom all the building fitly framed together, 
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.'' 
Just as the mechanic goes into the forest and 
hews and frames timber, making it ready for 
the erection of a literal structure; so the Lord 
finds us in the wilderness of sin and with the 
broad ax of his eternal truth frames us, hews 
us with judgment to the line and righteousness 
to the plummet, thus fitting us and qualifying 
us to be builded into his house. And just as 
the mechanics, after framing the timber, raise 
up the building; so the Lord ••hath raised us 
up together and made us sit together in heav- 
enly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6). 
''From whom the whole body, fitly joined to- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 135 

gether, and compacted by that which every joint 
supplieth, according to the effectual working in 
the measure of every part, maketh increase of 
the body unto the edifying of itself in love.'' 
Eph. 4 : 16. ^ ^ In whom ye also are builded to- 
gether for an habitation of God through the 
Spirit. ' ' Eph. 2 : 22. From the above we see 
that God's people are framed together, raised 
up together, joined together, and builded to- 
gether. These expressions convey the idea of 
perfect organization. ^'And he that built all 
things is God"; therefore the Lord is the or- 
ganizer and builder of his church. Accordingly, 
he says, as recorded in Matt. 16:18, ^^I will 
build my church ; and the gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it." 

In this house are included all the saved. This 
brings out another beautiful phase of the new- 
testament church ; that is, it is a spiritual struc- 
ture. In 1 Pet. 2:5 it is termed a spiritual 
house. Men may erect literal structures and 
organize temporal churches, but men can not 
manufacture spiritual things. To God alone 
belongs the prerogative of founding that which 
is spiritual. Hence man has not been able to 
devise a perfect substitute or substitutes for the 



136 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

church of God. It is a spiritual house, a spir- 
itual church, builded by the Lord of heaven. 
And in it the saved of all nations find a place of 
rest. Within its spacious walls the rich and 
the poor, the high and the low, the learned and 
the illiterate, men of all classes, conditions, and 
stations in life, may find a place of refuge. It 
is the place where God dwells, the place where 
his rich blessings fall, the place where he mani- 
fests his power and his glory. 

Christ is to this house its only foundation. 
Therefore we read in 1 Cor. 3: 11, ^' Other foun- 
dation can no man lay than that is laid, which 
is Christ Jesus.'' He is also its door of en- 
trance. He says, ''I am the door: by me if any 
man enter in. he shall be saved. ' ' John 10 : 9. 
This shows that the only way to become a mem- 
ber of the church of God is by obtaining salva- 
tion. The only door of admission into the house 
of God is through Jesus Christ. People are 
accustomed to hearing the ministry in Babylon 
speak of opening the doors of our church to 
take in members ; but no man can open or shut 
the door of God's church. Christ himself is 
the door and salvation the mode of induction. 
It follows, then, that none are members of the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 137 

true church of God but those who are saved. 
This leaves every sinner outside of the new- 
testament church. The above being true, ^^ holi- 
ness becometh thy house, Lord, forever" 
(Psa. 93: 5). In this house we gather and eat 
the bread of life and drink the crystal waters 
of salvation in the courts of his holiness (Isa. 
62:9). 

A HOUSEHOLD. 

Under this figure the church is presented as 
a family. It is the family of God, one family 
in heaven and on earth. God has but one fam- 
ily, and that family includes all his children. 
Nothing less than this constitutes the church. 
Any institution or organization that does not 
include in its membership the entire family of 
God in heaven and on earth can not be the new- 
testament church. As a family, God is our Fa- 
ther and we are his children. Therefore we 
read in 2 Cor. 6 : 18, ^' And will be a Father unto 
you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, 
saith the Lord Almighty." 

Some teachers in modern times say that wo 
shall not really be the sons of God until the 
resurrection morning; but John says, ^^Be- 



138 THE CHEISTIAN CHUECH: 

loved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth 
not yet appear what we shall be; but we know 
that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; 
for we shall see him as he is. " 1 John 3 : 2. Not 
in the future age shall we become sons, but 
^^now are we the sons of God." We become so 
through the new birth. '^As many as received 
him, to him gave he power to become the sons 
of God, even to them that believe on his name : 
which were bom, ... of God. ' ' John 1 : 12, 13. 
We become children of natural families through 
natural birth, and just so we become children 
of God, members of his spiritual family, through 
spiritual birth. ' ' Of Zion it shall be said. This 
and that man was born in her." Psa. 87: 5. It 
would, indeed, sound strange for a child to speak 
to his parents about joining their family. Intel- 
ligence would teach him that he was a member 
of the family by ^T.ii;ue of natural birth. Just 
so is it ridiculous in the sight or eyes of the 
Lord for men to speak of joining the church 
after conversion or the new birth, for the fact 
is, the very moment individuals are bom of the 
Spirit of God, they are then and there made 
members of his church. This church or family 
of God is termed in Gal. 6 : 10 ^ ^ the household of 



ITS RISE AND PROOKESS. 139 

faith, ' ' and in Eph. 2 : 19 it is termed ^ ' the house- 
hold of Grod, "the latter term signifying to 
whom the church belongs. 

As in every home there should be govern- 
ment, law, and order, so in the household of 
Grod, Christ is the head of the family. He has 
placed the members under government and rule, 
and he demands that they all be ' ' obedient chil- 
dren. " ^ ^ That thou mayest know how thou ought- 
est to behave thyself in the house of God, which 
is the church of the living God. ' ' The New Testa- 
ment is the law by which this household is gov- 
erned, and every member must observe all 
things commanded (Matt. 28 : 20) . If in anything 
any member of the Lord's household become un- 
ruly and fail to behave himself as Christians 
should, the rod of correction will be used (Heb. 
12:5-11). 

Under this figure, then, is brought out clearly 
the universality of the church, its exclusiveness, 
and its government. 

A WOMAN. 

One beautiful figure under which the new- 
testament church is ))resented is that of a 
woman. In Rev. 12:1 we read, ''And there 



140 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman 
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her 
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve 
stars." This woman represents the true church 
of God in her primitive beauty and glory. Her 
being ^^ clothed with the sun'' would signify that 
she was clothed with the authority, power, 
glory, holiness, might, and truth of Christ him- 
self. The crown upon her head would signify 
that she was a queen. The twelve stars in her 
crown signify the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 
Thus the true church is presented to us under 
the figure of a beautiful woman, while in the 
seventeenth chapter of this same book of sym- 
bols the apostate church is presented under the 
figure of a corrupted, adulterous woman decked 
with the filthiness of her fornications. 

Under this figure of a woman the church 
appears as a bride. Of her John the Baptist 
in his ministry said, ^'He that hath the bride is 
the bridegroom. ' ' John 3 : 29. The bridegroom 
is Christ, and the bride is his church. Again, 
in 2 Cor. 11: 2 we read, ^^For I am jealous over 
you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused 
you to one husband, that I may present you as a 
chaste virgin to Christ. ' ' In these texts the re- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 141 

lationship between Christ and his church, or 
people, is expressed as being an espousal. Je- 
sus came to earth to purchase for himself a 
bride. He purchased her with his own pre- 
cious blood, and under this figure she became 
his. During the present dispensation she is 
called out from this world of sin, and is robed 
in the garments of salvation, with his own right- 
eousness, termed ' ' white linen, clean and white, ' ' 
and thus she is being made ready to be pre- 
sented to him '^without spot or wrinkle or any 
such thing." 

At the second coming Christ will appear to 
receive his bride unto himself. This, in fig- 
ure, is called the marriage of the Lamb. See 
Rev. 19:7, 8. ^^Bless'ed are they which are 
called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb." 
What that great supper will consist of we are 
not now able to tell, but then will be fulfilled 
the words of Jesus, '^I will eat and drink anew 
with you in my Father's kingdom/' In that 
new earth the church is seen as a bride, the 
Lamb's wife, the marriage having taken i)la(*c. 
Under this figure, then, our future and clcr- 
nal union with Christ is expressed by the fcnn 
*^ marriage "—the marriage of the Lamb. 



142 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Under another and separate figure our pres- 
ent union with Christ is beautifully expressed 
by the same term. Paul, in Rom. 7 : 1-4, draws 
a beautiful analogy between a couple joined in 
the sacred bonds of wedlock and Christ and 
his people as individuals. ^^That we should be 
married to another, even to him who is raised 
from the dead." In Eph. 5:23-33 it will be 
seen that in some respects the same relation- 
ship which exists between the husband and the 
wife in natural matrimony, exists between 
Christ and his church. As the husband is the 
head of the wife, so Christ is the head of the 
church. As the wife is to be subject to her 
husband, so the church is subject to Christ. Hus- 
bands are exhorted to love their wives as Christ 
loved the church. Husbands are exhorted to 
nourish and cherish their wives even as the 
Lord does the church. As a husband and a wife 
are no more twain, but one flesh ; so we are mem- 
bers of his body, his flesh, and his bones. In 
this we have a beautiful figure of the present 
close relationship that exists between Christ 
and his church, or people, on earth. Just as 
the woman must forsake home, friends, and all, 
and cleave to her husband; so the Lord re- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 143 

quires of ns in order to be numbered among 
those who constitute his true bride, that we 
forsake father, mother, friends, and even our 
own life, and cleave to him alone. And as a true 
wife loves her husband and lives in true af- 
fection with him, so we love him because he 
first loved us. 

In the S. of Sol. 4 : 7 the Lord speaks of the 
church in the following language: ^'Thou art 
all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.'' And 
again, of her the prophet said, ^^My dove, my 
undefiled, is but one. She is the only one of 
her mother.'' Measured by these texts, the 
sectarian institutions in the world today, called 
churches, fall far short of being the bride of 
Christ ; in fact, they form no part of her. Christ 
has but one wife. He has but one church. Un- 
der this figure is again clearly brought to view 
the oneness and the exclusiveness of the new- 
testament church. 

There is still another figure in which a beau- 
tiful relationship between the church and God, 
the Father, is expressed. ^^For thy Maker is 
thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is his name, 
... the Holy One of Israel. The God of tlie 
whole earth shall he be called. ' ' Isa. 54 : 5. 




144 THE CHEISTIAX CHUECH: 

Here, the church is spoken of as being married 
to God. "As a bridegroom rejoices over the 
bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. "' ' Thou 
shalt be called Hephzibah [my delight is in 
her], and thy land Beulah [which means ^'"mar- 
ried"]." Isa. 62:4, 5. Under this figure the 
church is our spiritual mother and God our fa- 
ther. Accordingly, we read that '^Jerusalem 
which is above is free, which is the mother of 
us all " ( Gal. 4:26). The church being the spir- 
itual mother, she travails for the salvation of 
a lost world and brings forth children (Isa. 66: 
8). As a good mother, she bears us upon her 
sides and dandles us upon her knees. She sat- 
isfies her children with the breasts of her con- 
solations ; and they are permitted to milk out, 
and be delighted with the abundance of her 
gioiw (Isa. 66:11, 12). In fulfilment Paul 
says, '^I have fed you with milk.-' Peter thus 
expressed it: ''As new-bom babes, desire the 
sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow 
thereby." 1 Pet. 2:2. 

As a true wife endeavors to honor and rev- 
erence her husband, she bears his name. No 
true wife will think of taking some other man's 
name. Just so it is with the church. Being 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 145 

married to God, she bears his name. How con- 
sistent, then, the name given her by the Lord! 
Christ said in his prayer to the Father, ^^ While 
I was with them in the world, I kept them in 
thy name.'' ''Holy Father, keep through 
[Greek, in] thine own name those whom thou 
hast given me, that they may be one, as we are 
one." H|is name being God, she was properly 
named 'Hhe church of God." This is the name 
given in the New Testament. Both as a fam- 
ily and as a wife taking her husband's name, 
she is termed ''the church of God." For the 
church to take other names, as the various sects 
have, is to cast reflection upon the Lord and to 
make the institution guilty of the sin of adul- 
tery. 

Since God is recognized as being the hus- 
band of his church, he bears, in many respects, 
the relationship that a true husband bears to 
his wife. He supplies all her needs. In Phil. 
4:19 we read, "My God shall supply all your 
needs according to his riches in glory by Christ 
Jesus." "Thou preparest a table before me 
in the presence of mine enemies. ' ' Psa. 23 : 5. 
This table is spread with the dainties of heaven, 
rich things of the kingdom of grace; and the 



146 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

willing and obedient are enabled to eat the good 
of the land. Thus they shall be abundantly sat- 
isfied with the fatness of the Lord's house. He 
shall make them to drink of the rivers of his 
pleasures. A husband provides raiment for 
his wife ; so the Lord clothes us with the gar- 
ments of salvation, yea, he covers us with the 
robe of righteousness. The Lord also furnishes 
light for his church. Accordingly, we read in 
Isa. 60 : 19, 20 : " The sun shall be no more thy 
light by day; neither for brightness shall the 
moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall 
be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God 
thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; 
neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the 
Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the 
days of thy mourning shall be ended." What 
a beautiful picture is here portrayed ! The Lord 
has become the light of his church, or people. 
He also promises grace suflScient for every trial 
and every need. ^^My grace is sufficient for 
thee, ' ' and ' ' God i s able t o make all grace 
abound toward you; that ye, always having all 
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every 
good work" (2 Cor. 9:8). In this figure, then, 
we have God acting as a husband unto the 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 147 

church and as a kind, loving Father to all of 
her children. 

A CITY. 

Another figure under which the new-testa- 
ment church is presented is that of a city. It 
was predicted by the prophet Isaiah, ^^In that 
day shall this song be sung in the land of Ju- 
dah ; We have a strong city ; salvation will Grod 
appoint for walls and bulwarks." Isa. 26:1. 
The day referred to is the gospel day. The 
strong city is a prediction of the new-testament 
church. Salvation was to be her walls and bul- 
warks. These were means of protection used 
by nations and cities in ancient times. In time 
of war the people would flock inside the citj^ 
walls and feel secure. The people then did not 
have such implements of warfare as we have in 
modern times. The ancient city of Babylon had, 
it is said, a wall 350 feet in height, about 87 feet 
thick, and 60 niiles in length. The church was 
to be a strong city, and one reason of her great 
strength was the fact that salvation would be 
her impregnable walls and bulwarks. 

In Isa. 62 : 12 the church was prophesied of 
in the following language: ''And they shall call 



148 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

them, The holy people, The redeemed of the 
Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A 
city not forsaken. ' ' Again, in Isa. 60 : 18 is this 
prophecy: ^'Violence shall no more be heard in 
thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy 
borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salva- 
tation, and thy gates Praise." Such a city the 
world had never seen, a spiritual city, a city 
made up of saved men and women, each individ- 
ual constituting a house in this city. And the 
gates of this spiritual city are said to be praise. 
This signifies the songs of triumph and the 
shouts of victory that emanate from the people 
of God. 

Throughout the prophecies and in the New > 
Testament as well, Zion and Jerusalem are very 
often used as metaphors signifying the new- 
testament church. For example, ^^ Awake, 
awake, put on thy strength, Zion ; put on thy 
beautiful garments, Jerusalem the holy city : 
for henceforth there shall no more come unto 
thee the uncircumcised and the unclean." Such 
language as this could not apply to a temporal 
city, but can apply only to the church of God. | 

She is here seen clothed in beautiful garments, 
a holy city. Under this figure, then, the purity 



ITS EISE AND PKOGRESS. 149 

of the church is loresented. The words, ' ' Hence- 
forth there shall no more come into thee the 
nncircumcised and the unclean," mean that 
since salvation is the mode of induction into 
Zion, the church of God, only such are mem- 
bers of Zion as have been born of God (Psa. 
87: 5), So Zion, or Jerusalem, is composed of 
none other than those who are truly saved. 

^^Thy watchman shall lift up their voices; 
with the voices together shall they sing : for they 
shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring 
again Zion. ' ' Isa. 52 : 8. This was true of the 
watchmen, or ministers, in the early morning 
of the Christian dispensation; but there came 
an apostasy, as was predicted, and that very 
faithful city, which was once full of judgment 
and righteousness, became a harlot (Isa. 1: 21). 
'The princes became thieves, loved gifts, fol- 
lowed after rewards; thej^ judged not the fa- 
therless ; they mixed the wine with water. ' Isa. 
1 : 22, 23. This refers to the condition of things 
during the great apostasy. The mixing of wine 
with water signifies adulteration of the Word 
of God. But the prophet also foretold the fact 
that the time would come when the Lord would 
restore the judges as at the first and the conn- 



150 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

selors as at the beginning, and that Zion should 
be redeemed with judgment and her converts 
with righteousness. And after this she was to 
be called the city of righteousness, a faithful 
city (verses 25 to 27). Thank God, we have 
reached that time. We are living in the fulfil- 
ment of this prophecy. God is bringing again 
Zion, restoring judgment to the ministry, and 
bringing the people of God to the pristine unity 
and oneness, organization and holiness, author- 
ity and power, of the early church. And as the 
church comes back to the same plane upon which 
she stood in the beginning, thank God, the lan- 
guage of the prophecy is being fulfilled in that 
the watchmen, or ministry, see eye to eye. 

In Isa. 4 : 3, 4 we have a further prediction of 
this. ^^It shall come to pass that he that is 
left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusa- 
lem shall be called holy ; even every one that is 
written among the living in Jerusalem, when 
the Lord shall have washed away the filth of 
the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged 
the blood of Jerusalem in the midst thereof 
by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of 
burning." Here we see that when judgment 
goes forth in the church in the last days, the 



¥ 



ITS RISE AND PEOGEESS. 151 

result will be a clean, pure, separate church, 
and that all left therein shall be holy. 

In Joel 3 : 17 the same thought is presented : 
' ' So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God 
dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain : then shall 
Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers 
pass through her any more/' Thank God, we 
are inhabitants of that city in these last days. 
The people of God who long have been scat- 
tered in the filthy city of Babylon, ^^that great 
city which reigneth over all the earth, ' ' are cast- 
ing off the yokes of men and returning to Zion. 
Yea, ^'the ransomed of the Lord shall return 
and come to Zion with songs and everlasting 
joy upon their heads" (Isa. 35:10). And as 
we return to the beautiful city of God, and dwell 
in the heights of Zion, God manifests his power 
as in the days of yore, and waters of salvation 
begin to flow. Yea, living waters, crystal 
streams of deliverance, peace, and joy, flow out 
to darkened hearts around us. ^^And it shall 
come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the 
name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in 
Mount Zion and in Jenisalem shall be deliv- 
erance, as the Lord hath said, and in the rem- 
nant whom the Lord shall call. ' ' Joel 2 : 32. 



152 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

In this city Zion— the church— true holiness can 
be found. ^^But upon Mount Zion shall be de- 
liverance, and there shall be holiness, and the 
house of Jacob shall possess their possessions." 
Obadiah 17. Thank God, this city is filled with 
holiness, and true holiness is that which adorns 
her. ^ ^ There is a river, the streams whereof shall 
make glad the city of God." This river is the 
river of salvation. Its streams are love, joy, 
peace, light, glory, and eternal life. And as 
men and women scattered throughout the realms 
of sin and dark sectism in these last days come 
back to the city of Zion, the holy Jerusalem, 
the church of the first-born, they have the privi- 
lege of drinking these crystal waters until their 
souls are fully satisfied. Oh the sweetness, the 
glory, the grandeur of this city of God, and the 
blessedness of dwelling therein! Not alone in 
a future age beyond the resurrection are we 
to enjoy these rich blessings, but we '^are come 
unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living 
God, the heavenly Jerusalem ... to the general 
assembly and church of the first-bom, which 
are written in heaven" (Heb. 12: 22). Here it 
is seen that this city and the church are identi- 
cal, and in this dispensation we have come unto 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 153 

it. Under this figure of a city, then, we see the 
security, government, and beauty of the church 
of God. 

A MOUNTAIN. 

One of the most beautiful and striking figures 
of the new-testament church is that of a moun- 
tain. Under this figure is presented its stability, 
grandeur, and endurance. 

Turning to Isa. 2:2, 3, we find the following 
prediction: ^'And it shall come to pass in the 
last days that the mountain of the Lord's house 
shall be established in the top of the mountains, 
and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all na- 
tions shall flow unto it. And many people shall 
go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the 
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God 
of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and 
we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion shall 
go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from 
Jerusalem." This is a clear prediction of the 
new-testament church. ^^The last days" re- 
fers to the Christian dispensation. The churcli 
here is presented under the figure of a moun- 
tain upon which the Lord's house is lo(*nted. 
And this mountain ^^ shall be established in tlio 



154 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above 
the hills." This refers to an exalted position 
of Christianity. All other [religions are far 
beneath it. Christianity mounts up above every 
other religion and the church of God above ev- 
ery other institution. 

Another beauty of this church is seen in 
the fact that ^'all nations shall flow unto it." 
Under the legal dispensation the privileges and 
blessings of God were extended to one nation 
only, but the new-testament church was to open 
her doors to all the nations of the earth, and 
the saved of all nations were to flow unto it. 
Thank God, we have the fulfilment of this to- 
day ; for the gospel is going forth to all the na- 
tions of the earth, and such as are being saved 
are brought from the dark valleys and realms 
of sin to the high mount of holiness, truth, and 
salvation, and are flowing into the one church 
of the living God. 

In Dan. 2 : 34, 35, Christianity is presented 
under the figure of a great mountain, which 
shall fill the whole earth. This signifies that ul- 
timately Christianity will conquer the nations 
and be the universal religion. As we shall here- 
after show, we are living in the very time and 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 155 

taking part in the very work which in God's 
providence is destined to fulfil this prediction. 
Paul, in writing to the Hebrew brethren, says, 
'^Ye are come unto Mount Zion." Beb. 12: 22. 
As we point the telescope back across the mists 
and fogs that roll at our feet, back over the 
dark valley of apostasy covering a period of 
1610 years, we behold in the distance a beau- 
tiful mountain transplendent with the rays of 
the morning sun, and upon her height the house 
of God, which is the church of the living God. 
This mount is the mount of God's own holiness. 
Thus saith the Lord, ^^I am returned unto Zion 
and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and 
Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and 
the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy 
mountain." This is a clear prediction of the 
new-testament church. Jerusalem and the 
mountain refers to the church of God. Notice 
it is the mountain of the Lord of hosts ; that is, 
the mount upon which he dwells, and the same 
is said to be holy. 

^^ Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised 
in the city of our God, in the mountain of his 
holiness. Beautiful for situation, tlie joy of the 
whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of tlie 



156 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

north, the city of the great King. God is known 
in her palaces for a refuge." Psa. 48: 1-3. This 
text primarily may refer to the literal city of 
Zion, Jerusalem; but since that was but a type 
or shadow of the spiritual Zion, the new-testa- 
ment church, there is a beautiful application of 
this scripture to the people of God in this dis- 
pensation. As the saints gather in Zion, inside 
her impregnable walls of salvation, their shouts 
of praise and thanksgiving to God are again 
heard; and as they come to the mount of his 
holiness and possess the same glory that 
adorned the early church, the gates of praise fly 
open, and God is glorified in the midst of them. 
This church is said to be the city of the great 
king. ' ' God is known in all her palaces. ' ' This 
represents the fact that the Lord dwells in this 
holy mountain, and here is the place where his 
blessings fall. ^^The Lord shall bless thee, 
habitation of justice and mountain of holiness." 
Jer. 31 : 23. Not only does the Lord bless his 
people in Zion, but, as predicted in Isa. 26 : 6, 
he spreads a feast of rich things before them. 
'^And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts 
make unto all people a feast of fat things, a 
feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 157 

marrow, of wines on the lees well refined/' 
Those who have been famishing and starving 
on the barren mountains of sin and down in the 
cold regions of Babylon— as they come to this 
mountain of holiness and truth, they find a feast 
of rich dainties, the best that heaven can af- 
ford. Thns ^'the Lord satisfieth the longing 
soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." 
But God's people did not always remain upon 
this mountain of holiness. Jesus predicted that 
many false teachers would arise and deceive 
many, and Paul said that after his departing 
grievous wolves would enter in, not sparing the 
flock, and that disciples would be turned away 
from the truth. This came to pass, and the 
prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled, as recorded 
in the sixth verse of the fiftieth chapter: ^'My 
people have been lost sheep: their shepherds 
have caused them to go astray, they have turned 
them away on the mountains: they have gone 
from the mountain to hill, they have forgotten 
their resting-place." Since the church of God 
is presented under the figure of a great moun- 
tain, the mountain of God's holiness, all rival 
churches, or man-made ecclesiastical institu- 
tions that have since arisen, a r e brought to 



158 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

view under the figures of mountains and hills, 
signifying large sects and small ones. In these 
the people of God, during the reign of apos- 
tasy, have been scattered. ^^And they were 
scattered because there was no shepherd; and 
they became meat to all the beasts of the field 
when they were scattered. My sheep wandered 
upon all the mountains and upon every high 
hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the 
face of the earth, and none did search or seek 
after them." This is fulfilled in God's peo- 
ple having been scattered throughout all the 
realms of sectism. Good people have been led 
into all the many religious bodies extant in the 
world today. But it is a fact that, while God's 
people have been led into these places, the places 
themselves—institutions o f Babylon— have 
granted no salvation or deliverance to those who 
entered their folds. ' ' Truly in vain is salvation 
hoped for from the hills, and from the multi- 
tude of mountains : truly in the Lord our God is 
the salvation of Israel. ' ' Jer. 3 : 23. 

But we are glad to say that this condition of 
affairs was not always to continue. It was 
prophesied by Isaiah that the time would come 
when God's people should be gathered from 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. ' 159 

these mountains and hills in which they have 
been scattered. ^^I will make thee a new sharp 
threshing-instrument having teeth: thou shalt 
thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and 
shall make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan 
them and the wind shall carry them away, and 
the whirlwind shall scatter them : and thou shalt 
rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy 
One of Israel. ' ' Isa. 41 : 15, 16. This sharp 
threshing-instrument is nothing else than God's 
holy ministry with the eternal truth. The moun- 
tains of Babylon were to be threshed and beaten 
small, in order that God's people may be gath- 
ered therefrom. We are living in that time, and 
the ransomed of the Lord are returning to Zion 
with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads 
(Isa. 35:10). 

In the morning glory of the church God's peo- 
ple abode in and enjoyed the blessings of Mount 
Zion ; but false teachers led them away, and for 
centuries they were scattered, as the foregoing 
scriptures declare. In these last days, how- 
ever, the people of God are privileged to re- 
turn and to enjoy the same government, organi- 
zation, purity, oneness, and power enjoyed by 
the primitive church. And as the ministers of 




160 THE CHEISTIAX CHURCH: 

God assemble in these last days in the heights 
of Zion, they blow the trnmpet of eternal truth 
to all the nations of the earth, and this trumpet 
assembles together all who are willing to meet 
the requisite conditions and requirements of the 
gospel. This prepares the church for the com- 
ing of the Lord. "Blow ye the trumpet in 
Zion, and sound an alann in my holy moun- 
tain: let all the inhabitants of the land trem- 
ble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is 
nigh at hand." Joel 2:1. God sends forth 
his messengers ajid every honest soul is gath- 
ered. "^Behold, I will send for many fishers, 
saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and 
after will I send for manv hunters, and thev 
shall hunt them from every mountain, and from 
every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." 
Jer. 16:16. Thus are God's people in these 
last days gathered from the holes of sin and 
deception in which they have been lodging, and 
with singing and rejoicing they are brought 
home to Zion, to the mountain of the Lord. 
Here upon the mountain of God's own holiness 
we stand with our souls illuminated by the bril- 
liant, transplendent gloiy of the setting sun 
in this blessed evening light. TVe stand upon 



ITS RISE AND PROORESS. 161 

the summit of the same Zion, the same mount of 
God's own holiness— the church of the living 
God— upon which the early church stood and 
found a place of refuge. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 163 



The Primitive Church a Triumphant Church. 

In Babylon theology we hear much of the 
church militant here below and the church tri- 
umphant over in heaven; but the dwellers in 
Zion have found the church triumphant here 
on earth and reign therein over every foe. Ttue, 
there are battles to fight and enemies to con- 
quer, and this proves a militant state of the 
church ; but ' ' thanks be unto God, which al- 
ways causeth us to triumph in Christ." 2 
Cor. 2 : 14. Yes, always. And this triumphant 
state is not confined to heaven, but right here 
on earth ^4n all these things we are more than 
conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom. 
8: 37). Yes, ^^they which receive abundance of 
grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign 
in life by one, Jesus Christ. ' ' Rom. 5 : 17. These 
texts beautifully express the victory enjoyed 
by the primitive Christians. 

The kingdom of Christ is represented as en- 
gaged in constant conflict and as always being 
victorious. Christ reigns while his enemies are 
being conquered; ^^for he must reign, till he 
hath put all enemies under his feet" (1 Cor. 



164 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

15: 25). In the very opening of the plan of re- 
demption Christianity is represented as an ag- 
gressive conquering power, under the following 
symbol: ^^And I saw, and behold a white horse, 
and he that sat on it had a bow; aad a crown 
was given him, and he went forth conquering, 
and to conquer. ' ' Rev. 6:2. The symbol is that 
of a victorious warrior, and is drawn from the 
civil and military life of the Romans. He well 
represents the primitive church of God. The 
white horse denotes purity. Holiness was the 
mighty steed upon which the Christian church 
rushed to battle. The rider, no doubt, signifies 
the ministers, who stood for the church entire. 
The bow signifies that this rider was a warrior. 
With the sword of truth the early ministry and 
church rushed forth to battle against the power- 
ful systems of error with which they had to 
contend. A crown was given unto him. Why? 
Because he conquered. ^^He went forth con- 
quering, and to conquer." This rider wore the 
victor's crown. So the early ministry and 
church triumphed over every foe. They multi- 
plied into a strong kingdom of priests and 
reigned in life. Thus Christ conquered nations 
through his pure church and ministry. She was 



ITS RISE AM) PROGRESS. 165 

seen terrible as an army with banners (S. of Sol. 
6:10). 

OVER SIN AND DEATH. 

In the early morning of Christianity the 
church of God enjoyed perfect freedom from 
sin and victory over it. ^^They sung a new 
song, saying, . . . thou wast slain, and hast re- 
deemed us to God by thy blood out of every kin- 
dred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and 
hast made us unto our God kings and priests. ' ' 
Rev. 5:9, 10. ^'Unto him that loved us, and 
washed us from our sins in his own blood, and 
hath made us kings and priests unto God and 
his Father.'' Rev. 1:5, 6. 

For four thousand years the world was held 
under the power and dominion of sin. As a 
result, ^^ death passed upon all men, for that 
all have sinned." Paul said that ^^ death 
reigned" and that ^^sin hath reigned unto 
death." The gloomy pall of sin and death hung 
over all— spiritual death, which comes as a re- 
sult of sin. But Christ came mighty to save, 
and through his death and i^esurrection con- 
quered death. Yes, ^^ abolished death and 
brought light and immortality to life tlirougli 




166 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

the gospel''; and ^^he that hath the Son hath 
life/' ^^God hath given nnto us his eternal 
life, and this life is in his Son. ' ' So the really 
saved ^^are passed from death nnto life. •' In 
this divine spiritual life is granted perfect de- 
liverance from all sin. ^^ Being then made free 
from sin, ye became the servants of righteous- 
ness. ' ' Eom. 6 : 18. " The blood of Jesus Christ, 
his Son, cleanseth us from all sin"; and this 
happy condition is not the state of the saints 
of God merely in heaven, ^^Dut 7ioiv being made 
free from sin and become servants to God, ye 
have your fruit unto holiness, and the end ever- 
lasting life ' ' (Eom. 6 : 22) . ^ ^ Sm shall not have 
dominion over you; for ye are under grace.'' 
Eom. 6. 14. Thus by being redeemed, washed 
in the blood of Christ, the early Christians 
were made kings, and reigned in life over sin 
and death. Xot only did they obtain a perfect 
deliverance from sin, but through the abun- 
dant grace of God which was granted them, they 
were enabled to serve God in holiness and right- 
eousness before him all the days of their life 
(Luke 1:75); yes, to live soberly, righteously, 
and godly in the present world (Tit. 2: 11, 12). 
That blessed reign of 'righteousness through 



ITS RISE AND PBOGEESS. 167 

Christ, as we shall hereafter see, is restored to 
us in this evening time. 

OVER SATAN, THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS. 

Originally man was a king and reigned over 
the world. It lay prostrate at his feet. He held 
dominion. ^^Thon . . . hast crowned him with 
glory and honor. Thou hast set him over the 
works of thy hands; thou hast put all things 
under his feet. ' ' Psa. 8:5, 6. But through the 
subtility of the devil, man lost his kingdom and 
became a servant— was brought under bond- 
age. Satan became prince of this world and 
held dominion over all mankind. Over four 
thousand years he held them fast under sin 
and death. During that time they were never 
fully delivered from his tyrannical rule. But 
Christ, the king of heaven, came to earth to re- 
store to man ^^the first dominion." He set up 
the kingdom of heaven in direct opposition to 
the kingdom of darkness. He began by saving- 
men from their sins and by healing^ ^ all that were 
oppressed of the devil." Thus he '^s[)oiled prin- 
cipalities and powers, triumphing over them." 
This caused Satan's kingdom to fall ^Miko light- 
ning" (Luke 10:18). 



168 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

By giving liis life on the cross and rising tri- 
umphant from the grave, Christ conquered 
death, sin, and hell, bringing salvation, free- 
dom, life, and liberty to all men. Hear his own 
words, ^^All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth." '^Wherefore he is able to save 
them unto the uttermost that come unto God by 
him." He began to proclaim liberty to the 
captives, and the opening of the prison to them 
that are bound; and to bring out the prisoners 
from the prison.' He led forth a '^multitude of 
captives" into the glorious freedom of truth. 

Thus the prince of the world, Satan, was cast 
out (John 12:31) and Christ was raised up a 
Prince, a Savior (Acts 5:31), Prince of the 
kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), Prince of life 
(Acts 3: 15). This same power he gave to the 
church. ^^ Behold, I give unto you power to 
tread on serpents, and scorpions, and over all 
the power of the enemy. ' ' Luke 10 : 19. Thus 
we see the prince of darkness dethroned, the 
god of this world cast down, and Christ and 
his church reigning over him. 

OVER PAGANISM UlSTDER THE ROMAK POWER. 

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, marched 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 169 

his armies to Jerusalem, destroyed the city and 
house of God, took the vessels of the temple and 
the remaining Jews, and carried them away cap- 
tive. This occurred B. C. 606. Among the cap- 
tives previously carried to Babylon was one 
Daniel, who was especially endued with wis- 
dom from on high. Nebuchadnezzar, in the sec- 
ond year of his reign, had a remarkable dream. 
In his dream he saw a great image. As he was 
an idolater, an image was an object that would 
at once command his attention and respect. But 
the thing went from him; therefore he called 
all the magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers. 
None of these, however, could reveal or inter- 
pret the dream. Finally God revealed the mat- 
ter to Daniel, who made known to the king his 
dream as follows : 

^^Thou, king, sawest, and behold a great 
image. This great image, whose brightness was 
excellent, stood before thee; and the form 
thereof was terrible. This image 's head was of 
fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his 
belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his 
feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou saw- 
est till that a stone was cut out without hands, 
which smote the image upon his feet that were 




170 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then 
was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and 
the gold, broken to pieces together, and became 
like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor; 
and the wind carried them away, that no place 
was found for them: and the stone that smote 
the image became a great mountain, and filled 
the whole earth." Dan. 2: 31-35. 

These five short verses open one of the most 
sublime chapters of human history. It is so 
comprehensive that the period which it covers, 
beginning more than twenty-five centuries ago, 
reaches from that far-distant point past the 
rise and fall of kingdoms, past epochs and ages, 
over into the eternal state— yes, to all eter- 
nity. 

First, in the vision, are brought to view four 
universal monarchies, which flourished in suc- 
cession in ancient times. The first of these is 
represented by the head of gold, interpreted 
by the prophet as follows: ^^Thou, king, art 
a king of kings: for the Grod of heaven hath 
given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and 
glory. . . . Thou art this head of gold.'' Verse 
37, 38. By this we understand that the Chal- 
dean kingdom is what the head of gold repre- 



ITS KISE AND PROGRESS. 171 

sented. It was a golden kingdom in a golden 
age. Babylon, its metropolis, lay in the gar- 
den of the East. The city lay in a perfect 
square, fifteen miles on each side. It was sur- 
rounded by a wall three hundred and fifty feet 
high and eighty-seven feet thick. It had one 
hundred and fifty gates of solid brass. Its hang- 
ing gardens were a wonderment. This city con- 
tained many things which were wonders of the 
world, but the city itself was the greatest won- 
der of its time. It was in this city, by the riv- 
ers of Babylon, that the Israelite captives sat 
down and wept, when they remembered Zion. 
Said they, ' ' We hanged our harps upon the wil- 
lows in the midst thereof. For there they that 
carried us away captive required of us a song; 
and they that wasted us required of us mirth, 
saying. Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How 
shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange 
land?" Psa. 137: 1-4. I presume it is safe 
to say that never before did the earth see a city 
like this; and since it has never seen its equal. 
With the earth prostrate at her feet, she sat 
^^the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chal- 
dees' excellency.'' Such was Babylon, with 
Nebuchadnezzar, in the prime of life, its ruler, 




172 THE CHEISTIAX CHURCH: 

when the Israelite captives entered its impregna- 
ble walls to serve for seventy years. 

While Babylon was founded by Ximrod over 
two thousand years before Christ, it did not 
enter the field of prophecy until connected with 
the people of God, which was about 606 B. C. 
Here the head of gold began in history and con- 
tinued until 538 B. C, when, during the reign 
of Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, the 
kingdom fell into the hands of the Medes and 
the Persians (see Daniel 5). 

The Medo-Persian kingdom is what was rep- 
resented by the breast and arms of silver in- 
terpreted by Daniel as follows : '• And after thee 
shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." 
Verse 39. It was not inferior in power nor in 
the extent to which it carried its conquests, 
for Cyrus erected the most extensive empire 
that had ever existed: but it was far inferior 
in wealth, luxury, and magnificence. The Medo- 
Persian kingdom, however, was finally over- 
thrown by the Grecians. This occurred about 
286 B. C. 

The Grecian empire is what was represented 
by the belly and thighs of brass, interpreted by 
Daniel as ''s. third kingdom of brass, which 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 173 

shall bear rule over all the earth" (verse 39). 
The conquests of Grecia under Alexander have 
no parallel in historic annals for suddenness 
and rapidity. The legs of iron and the feet, 
part of iron and part of clay, Daniel interprets 
to be the ^^ fourth kingdom" in its strong yet 
divided condition (verses 40-43). A careful 
reading of verses 41 and 42 will show that the 
feet, part of iron and clay, are termed ^^the 
kingdom, ' ' though divided. This was Rome. 

Thus far in this vision the image represents 
four universal kingdoms; namely, Babylonian, 
Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman. '^And in 
the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 
set up a kingdom, which shall never be de- 
stroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to 
other people, but it shall break in pieces and 
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that tlie 
stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, 
the clay, tlie silver, and the gold." Verses 44, 
45. This language is so clear that it would seem 
impossible to misunderstand it. ^^In the days 
of these kings"— kingdoms. Only four king- 
doms are seen in the image. Only four are 




174 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

spoken of in the interpretation. In their days, 
or before they should pass off the field of action, 
the God of heaven would set up his everlasting 
kingdom. While they yet held the dominion, 
the stone would be cut out and would smash 
them to pieces. Ah, beloved reader, how won- 
derful the fulfilment! 

It was when Bome, the fourth of the above 
kingdoms, had reached the summit of its glory 
and power; when its domain was so large that 
it was denominated '^all the world'' (Luke 2: 
1) ; when Augustus Caesar was an absolute sov- 
ereign, ruling over three hundred millions of 
people,— it was then that there was born in the 
village of Bethlehem, Judea, a babe, who, though 
he was cradled in a manger and his infant cries 
were no doubt mingled with the lowing of 
oxen and the bleating of lambs, was destined to 
establish this everlasting kingdom. Without 
fagot or sword, without war and bloodshed, 
with no weapons but the gospel of Christ, the 
blood of the Lamb, and burning testimony, this 
kingdom marched onward with conquering 
power, until the heathen kingdoms of darkness 
were broken in joieces. The lion-hearted rulers 
of nations handed over their scepters to the 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 175 

^^Lion of the tribe of Judah/' whose throne 
is forever and ever ; and a scepter of righteous- 
ness is the scepter of his kingdom (Heb. 1:8). 
In fulfilment of DaniePs prophecy, ^^ Jesus came 
into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the king- 
dom of God, and saying. The time is fulfilled 
and the kingdom of God is at hand/' Mark 
1 : 14, 15. The dispensation of the glorious gos- 
pel of infinite mercy and manifestation of eter- 
nal truth by Jesus Christ, was now to fully open 
up to all mankind. This is called a kingdom be- 
cause it has laws, all the moral precepts of the 
gospel; subjects, all who believe in Christ Je- 
sus; and a king, the Sovereign of heaven and 
earth. 

From the above scripture we learn four 
things: First, that everything that is done is 
according to a plan laid by divine wisdom, and 
not performed till the time appointed. Second, 
that the kingdom and the reign of sin were to 
be destroyed, and the kingdom of grace and 
heaven be established in their place. '^ Where 
sin abounded, grace did much more abound.'^ 
^^Sin shall not have dominion over you, for ye 
are . . . under grace. ' ' Third, that the kingdom 
of God and his reign by grace begins with vc- 




176 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

pentance of past sins. Fourth, that this reign 
of grace is at hand, and that it began with 
Christ's ministry, when the time was announced 
'^fulfilled." And now nothing but an obstinate 
perseverance in sin and impenitence can keep 
a soul out of it, and now is the time to enter 
in. 

Christ came to establish his church, of which 
he is the everlasting head and governor. He 
set up a government and kingdom which is eter- 
nal. Revolutions may destroy the kingdoms 
of earth, but the gates of hell and death shall 
never be able to destroy the kingdom, or church, 
of Christ. His is the only dominion that shall 
never have an end. In the language of Dr. A. 
Clark, ' ' The kingdom of grace and the kingdom 
of glory form the endless government of 
Christ." This was the stone that smote the 
image upon its feet and broke them in pieces. 
And, as portrayed in this prophecy, pagan Rome 
finally was broken in pieces under the iron rod 
of the gospel of Christ, and fell A. D. 476. That 
iron kingdom, which once ruled the earth, crum- 
bled to pieces under the fire of gospel truth 
and holiness, and the church of God triumphed. 
Christianity became the fifth universal king- 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 177 

dom. Rome became the last of earthly king- 
doms that ever swayed universal authority, or 
ever will. But Christ's kingdom is universal. 
The uttermost parts of the earth are his 
possession. In every nation are to be found 
disciples of Christ. Kings and magistrates bow 
before him and do him homage. 

Before passing from this prophecy, we shall 
take a little space to consider the erroneous posi- 
tion of millenarians. They argue that, as the 
ten toes of the image represent the ten divided 
kingdoms of Rome, these were the kingdoms to 
be in existence when Christ should set up his 
everlasting kingdom; and since none of those 
ten kingdoms were in existence when Christ 
appeared in his first advent, they conclude that 
the establishment of Christ's kingdom is yet 
future. Their position is false for the follow- 
ing reasons: 

1. The ten toes are not called kingdoms in the 
prophecy. The legs, feet, and toes are all 
summed up in this prophecy as ^'the kingdom" 
—the ^^ fourth kingdom" (verse 40-43). Only 
the four universal monarchies— Babylon, Medo- 
Persia, Grecia, and Rome— are called kingdoms. 
The image, as a whole, represents these four. 



178 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

They are called kingdoms. ^^And in the days 
of these kings [kingdoms] " the God of heaven 
was to set up his everlasting kingdom; that is, 
during their reign, before they passed off the 
field of action. While they yet held dominion, 
as before proved, this was fulfilled by the com- 
ing of Christ and the establishment of his king- 
dom, or church, during the reign of Rome. Chris- 
tianity fulfilled the prophecy in smashing to 
pieces these heathen powers. 

2. The time can not reach to Christ's second 
coming, for none of the original ten kingdoms 
are now in existence. Three of them fell un- 
der popery (Dan. 7:8, 20, 24). They have all 
long since passed away. There are in exis- 
tence today probably twenty fragments of those 
original kingdoms, but the toes of the image are 
no more. 

3. The image that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his 
dream was evidently a well-proportioned man. 
His toes were of the proper size. But millenial- 
ists would say that Nebuchadnezzar saw a man 
with toes longer than the man. Let us measure 
that image from the crown of his head to his 
toes. The Babylonian kingdom, represented by 
the head of gold, came into prophecy about 600 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 179 

B. C Tlie first of the ten kingdoms of Rome 
was formed about A. D. 356. This was the 
Huns. This would make in all 956 years. So 
the whole image measured less than one thou- 
sand years, till we reach the toes. Now, if those 
toes still exist, as foolish millenarians suppose, 
they would measure over 1,500 years. That 
would make a man with toes 500 years longer 
than the man. Such are the absurdities of those 
who believe in a future literal kingdom to be 
established upon earth. 

4. The stone struck the image upon his feet. 
But since there is no longer feet or toes of that 
image left, the kingdom of God is already es- 
tablished. When set up by Christ, it was a small 
stone, but it began to enlarge and finally be- 
came so great that, when Rome became brit- 
tle, Christianity struck her such an awful blow 
that she flew to pieces. 

5. All the New-Testament scriptures teach 
that the kingdom was set up at Christ's first 
advent. See Mark 1 : 14, 15 ; John 18 : 36, 37 ; 
John 1:49; John 12:12-15; Luke 19:37, 38; 
Matt. 21:4, 5; Heb. 2:9; Rev. 1:5; Eph. 1:20- 
22; Heb. 1:7, 8; Heb. 4:16; Luke 17:20-22; 
Rom. 14 : 17 ; Rev. 1 : 5, 6 ; Rom. 5:17; Luke 16 : 




180 THE CHEISTIAN CHTJECH: 

16 ; Matt. 3 : 12 ; Matt. 4 : 17 ; Matt. 11 : 12 ; Matt. 
12 : 28 ; Mark 12 : 34 ; Matt. 16 : 28 ; Luke 9:27; 
Mark 9:1; Col. 1 : 13 ; Eev. 1 : 9. These twenty- 
six iDOsitive texts, with many more, are surely a 
sufficient apology for our not accepting the false 
doctrine of a future kingdom upon earth. The 
only kingdom yet future is the everlasting king- 
dom of glory above, which we shall enter when 
time is no more. 

The same conflict and victory of the church 
over paganism under the Eoman power is beau- 
tifully portrayed in the book of Revelation. 
^^And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; 
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon 
under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
twelve stars : and she being with child cried, 
travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 
And there appeared another wonder in heaven : 
and behold a great red dragon, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon 
his heads. And his tail drew the third part 
of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the 
earth: and the dragon stood before the woman 
which was ready to be delivered, for to devour 
her child as soon as it was born. And she 
brought forth a man child, who was to rale all 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 181 

nations with a rod of iron: and her child was 
canght up unto God, and to his throne. And 
the woman fled into the wilderness, where she 
hath a place prepared of God, that they should 
feed her there a thousand two hundred and 
threescore days. ' ' Rev. 12 : 1-6. 

Prior to this, John saw a door opened in 
heaven, and heard a voice, saying, '^Come up 
hither, and I will show thee things which must 
be hereafter. " " And immediately I was in the 
Spirit," he says (Rev. 4:1, 2). This explains 
such expressions as, ''There appeared a great 
wonder in heaven," and, ''There was war in 
heaven," etc. While in the Spirit, John saw 
in symbol; or, in other words, there passed be- 
fore him a panorama of visions, of great events 
which were to take place upon the earth. He 
saw in heaven, in vision, what would take place 
upon earth in reality. 

The woman here described represents the 
true church of God— the bride of Christ— in her 
primitive unity and purity. The blessed union 
which exists between Christ and his people is 
explained by the term "marriage." This is 
true both of our present spiritual union with 
Christ and of our future eternal union with him. 



182 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

The whole church is in Scripture termed ^Hhe 
Lamb's wife/' ^'the bride of Christ," etc. She 
was ^'clothed with the sun"— a striking emblem 
of Jesus Christ, the ^^Sun of righteousness," 
the light and glory of the church. The church 
was clothed with his righteousness, which is 
represented in the same apocalypse by ^^pure 
linen, clean and white" (Rev. 19:8). She was 
clothed with his holiness, with the beautiful gar- 
ments of salvation. The result was that she 
was a pure church. She was clothed with his 
power; for to her he said, ^^ Behold, I give unto 
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, 
and over all the power of the enemy." Thus 
she was equipped to battle the hosts of hell, and 
this power was manifest in the salvation of sin- 
ners, the sanctification of believers, and the heal- 
ing of the sick of all manner of diseases. She 
was clothed with his authority and judgments. 
The result was that ^'with great power gave 
the apostles witness of the resurrection of the 
Lord Jesus : and great grace was upon them 
all." ^'And great fear came upon all the church, 
and upon as many as heard these things." '^And 
of the rest durst no man join himself to them: 
but the people magnified them." 



ITS EISE AND PEOGRESS. 183 

^^And upon her head a crown/' Ah! she 
sat a queen. Her husband, the glorious Lord, 
is the king of heaven— ^ 'King of kings, and Lord 
of lords. ' ' He ascended on high, ' ' crowned with 
glory and honor," and now reigns a monarch 
over earth and sky. His wife— the church— 
shares this royal honor. With the same glory 
that the Father crowned him, he crowned her. 
''And the glory which thou gavest me, I have 
given them. ' ' She shares his reign in the king- 
dom of peace. "A crown upon her head." She 
reigns with Christ over sin, Satan, and the 
world. "He died unto sin once; but in that he 
liveth, he liveth unto God"; and to the church 
it is said, "Sin shall not have dominion over 
you. ' ' Jesus testified that ' ' all power in heaven 
and in earth is given unto me," and to the 
church he gave "power over all the power of 
the enemy." He testifies, "I have overcome the 
world"; and we read that "whatsoever is bom 
of God overcometh the world." 

The twelve stars in her crown represent the 
twelve apostles of the Lamb. These adorned 
her fair brow. Her travail in birth and pain 
to be delivered represent the earnest labor of 
the early church for the salvation of the world. 




184 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

The fruit of matrimony is offspring. The ob- 
ject of our marriage to Christ is that we may 
bring forth fruit unto God (Kom. 7: 1-4). Like 
a true wife, the church joined heart and soul 
with him in the great cause that drew him to the. 
earth. The whole church is a unit made up of 
^'workers together with God" in the salvation of 
lost souls. Both ^^the Spirit and the bride say, 
Come." ^^As soon as Zion travailed, she brought 
forth her children." 

It is said that she ^^ brought forth a man child, 
who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. ' ' 
The question before us. now is, What does this 
man child represent? Many expositors suppose 
it refers to Christ; but for the following rea- 
sons it can not : The woman here referred to is 
the new-testament church. This church labors 
and pains to be delivered, and suddenly brings 
forth this child. Christ is not a child of the 
church of God. She is not his mother. He is 
her founder, her husband, the Father of this 
child. The prophet calls him ''the everlasting 
Father." Since it can not refer to Christ, we 
shall clearly prove that it refers to the great 
and mighty host of children brought forth by 
the pristine church. 



I 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 185 

This man child is clearly defined in the proph- 
ecy of Isaiah as follows: ^^ Before she travailed, 
she brought forth; before her pain came, she 
was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard 
such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall 
the earth be made to bring forth in one day? 
or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon 
as Zion travailed, she brought forth her chil- 
dren. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause 
to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause 
to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy 
God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad 
with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy 
with her, all ye that mourn for her : that ye may 
suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her 
consolations ; that ye may milk out, and be de- 
lighted with the abundance of her glory. For 
thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace 
to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles 
like a flowing stream : then shall ye suck, ye shall 
be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon 
her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, 
so will I comfort you ; and ye shall be comforted 
in Jerusalem." Isa. 63:7-13. 

Here is the same man child seen in Ilevelation 
12. The same is declared to be ^^a nation born 




186 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

at once/^ ^^in one day.'' ^^She [Zion] was de- 
livered of a man child. ' ' In surprise the prophet 
exclaims: ^^Who hath heard such a thing? who 
hath seen such things ? Shall the earth be made 
to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation he 
horn at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she 
brought forth her children. ' ' This is clear. A 
nation of children born suddenly constitutes 
the man child who was to rule the nations with 
a rod of iron. This child ^ sucks the breasts of 
her consolations, and milks out, and is delighted 
with the abundance of her glory ; is borne upon 
her sides, and dandled upon her knees.' What 
does this refer to but new-born babes, who de- 
sire the sincere milk of the Word, that they 
may grow thereby (1 Pet. 2:2)? Paul said to 
some of these ^^ babes in Christ," ^^I have fed 
you with milk. ' ' 1 Cor. 3:1-3. Was not this 
fulfilled in the early church? While Zion (one 
hundred and twenty in number) was in travail 
in an upper room in Jerusalem, they suddenly 
brought forth, and a nation of three thousand 
children was born into the family in one day. 
In a few days the number of children increased 
to about ten thousand. It was but a little while 
until the number increased to hundreds of thou- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 187 

sands. At an early date the church at Antioch 
alone numbered one hundred thousand. A great 
and mighty nation of children born at once; 
bom unto Zion. 

But why is this called a man child? It will 
be observed in Eph. 2 : 15 that the host of Jews 
and Grentiles born unto the church of God, made 
one in his blood, reconciled unto God in one 
body, constitute ^^one new man." This is the 
man child, just as the great apostate church is 
termed the ^^man of sin" in 2 Thessalonians 2. 
But it may be objected that this child was to 
rule the nations. T'rue; and so did this host. 
It was prophesied of them by Daniel, ^^But the 
saints of the Most High shall take the king- 
dom, and possess the kingdom forever, even 
forever and ever. ' ' Dan. 7 : 18. The Lord him- 
self applies the foregoing language to his peo- 
ple in Rev. 2:26, 27: ^^And he that overcom- 
eth, ... to him will I give power over the na- 
tions: and he shall rule them with a rod of 
iron." ^^ Whatsoever is born of God overcom- 
eth the world : and this is the victory that over- 
cometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 
5:4. This represents the glorious triumj))] of 
the early church. The breaking of the iiatioiKs 



188 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

into shivers and the ruling of them with a rod 
of iron is the same as the stone of Daniel 2 
breaking in pieces and consuming the brass, 
iron, silver, and gold, until no place was found 
for them. Those heathen nations were con- 
sumed before the onward march of Christianity. 
The iron rod of the gospel broke them to pieces. 
But it is said that John saw another wonder 
— ^^ A great red dragon, having seven heads and 
ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." 
This dragon represents Eome under the pagan 
religion. Eome was truly a dragon power. Its 
color— red— denotes its bloodthirstiness. Its 
seven heads are elsewhere explained as follows : 
^'The seven heads are seven mountains, on 
which the woman sitteth. ' ' Eev. 17 : 9. But 
the seven heads of this power are further ex- 
plained. ' ' And there are seven kings : five are 
fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come ; 
and when he cometh, he must continue a short 
space." Eev. 17:10. These were the seven 
supreme forms of government that ruled the 
empire. They were as follows : the regal power, 
the dictatorship, the decemvirate, the consular, 
the triumvirate, the imperial, and the patri- 
ciate. At the time John wrote the book of 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 189 

Revelation, the first ^^five were fallen." He 
says, ^^One is." The sixth head, or that which 
existed in John's time, was the imperial head 
under the Caesars. The seventh head, John 
says, ^^Is not yet come"; it had not yet ap- 
peared. When it should come, it was to con- 
tinue but ^ ' a short space. ' ' This was the patri- 
ciate. It ruled the empire only about twenty- 
six years. A further exposition of this will be 
given farther on in this chapter. 

The ten horns of the dragon represent the 
ten kingdoms which grew out of the Roman em- 
pire (Rev. 17:12). They were the Huns, the 
Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Franks, the Van- 
dals, the Suevi, the Burgundians, the Heruli, 
the Anglo-Saxons, and the Lombards. The tail 
of the dragon signifies the latter end of his 
reign. The casting down of the stars doubtless 
refers to the thousands of bright luminaries 
who were martyred during the reign of pagan- 
ism ; for it is said that the dragon stood before 
the woman to devour her child as soon as it was 
bom. How awfully true! Just as fast as men 
accepted the Christian faith the pagans were 
ready to devour them. Such were the bk^ody 
days of the church under pagan Rome. But 



190 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Christianity spread so rapidly, and the gospel 
had such a crushing effect, that Rome finally 
tottered and fell. 

But what became of that holy nation— the 
great host of saints, who were marching on- 
ward victorious over every foe? They sud- 
denly disappeared from the earth. The child 
was caught up to God and to his throne. They 
ascended to paradise, while darkness, supersti- 
tion, and iniquity flooded the earth. The bril- 
liant light of Christianity was eclipsed by the 
darkness of apostasy. 

^^The woman fled into the wilderness.'' This 
wilderness signifies the great apostasy into 
which the church went. It is a fact that the 
apostasy rapidly developed at the end of the 
pagan persecutions. However, we will consider 
that more fully later on. The above is one de- 
scription. Again we are taken over the same 
ground. 

^^And there was war in heaven: Michael and 
his angels fought against the dragon; and the 
dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed 
not; neither was their place found any more 
in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, 
that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 191 

which deceived the whole earth: he was cast 
out into the earth, and his angels were cast out 
with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in 
heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, 
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of 
his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is 
cast down, which accused them before our God 
day and night. And they overcame him by the 
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their 
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto 
the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and 
ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters 
of the earth and of the sea ! for the devil is come 
down unto you, having great wrath, because he 
knoweth that he hath but a short time. And 
when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the 
earth, he persecuted the woman which brought 
forth the man child. And to the woman were 
given two wings of a great eagle, that she might 
fly into the wilderness, into her place, where 
she is nourished for a time, and times, and half 
a time, from the face of the serpent." Eev. 12 : 
7:14. 

It has been thought by some that this great 
conflict took place in the eternal heavens be- 
tween Beelzebub and Christ; but such a view is 



t 



192 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

very erroneous. To say that the eternal heav- 
ens, where j)iirity and holiness reign, was once 
the scene of war, is preposterous in the ex- 
treme. This is to be understood the same as 
the wonders in heaven. John while in the Spirit 
saw in vision what took place upon the earth in 
reality. This great conflict took place in the 
early morning of the Christian era. 

But who is Michael ? " ' Yet Michael the arch- 
angel, when contending with the devil he dis- 
puted about the body of Moses, durst not bring 
against him a railing accusation, but said, The 
Lord rebuke thee." Jude 9. Jude here calls 
him the archangel— chief or head of the angelic 
host. AVe have but to inquire who this is to 
have the solution. 1 Pet. 3:21, 22— ^' Jesus 
Christ, who is gone into heaven, and is on the 
right hand of God: angels and authorities and 
powers being made subject unto him." '''Again, 
when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the 
world, he saith, And let all the angels of God 
worship him." Heb. 1:6. Christ then is the 
archangel, whom Jude terms Michael. Daniel 
calls Michael ''the great prince which stand- 
eth for the children of thy people" (Dan. 12: 
1). This is a clear i^rophecy of Christ, whom 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 193 

' ' God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince 
and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, 
and forgiveness of sins." Acts 5:30, 31. We 
deem the foregoing sufficient to convince any 
one that Michael is the Lord Jesns Christ. In 
fact, when Michael conquered the dragon, the 
host of heaven sent up a shout to God, because 
^^the power of his Christ" was manifest (verse 
10). 

As before proved, the dragon represents pa- 
ganism, or Rome under the pagan religion. Now, 
if by the dragon be meant Beelzebub himself, 
then we are necessarily led to the conclusion 
that the great apostate spirit is a monster hav- 
ing seven heads and ten horns, and also that he 
has a tail, with which he drags after him the 
third part of the stars of heaven. God never 
created such an angel, nor can it be proved that 
Satan now has such an appearance. The ap- 
pellations ^^old serpent," ^^ Devil," and 
'^ Satan" must therefore be understood figura- 
tively. The heathen power was called '^tliat 
old serpent which deceiveth the whole world," 
from its subtlety against the Christians, and 
its causing almost the whole then-known world 
as far as was in its i)ower to embrace the ab- 




194 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

surdities of paganism. From its great oppo- 
sition to the Christian church, it was called 
Satan, which is a Hebrew word signifying an 
adversary. It was also called the devil, be- 
cause its religion was purely of devilish origin. 
Paul says that '^the things which the Gentiles 
[heathen nations] sacrifice, they sacrifice to 
devils ; . . . and I would not that ye should have 
fellowship with devils. Ye can not drink the 
cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils." 1 Cor. 
10:20, 21. It is a fact that the early Chris- 
tians called the pagan power the de^al ; and they 
rightly named it, for it was the principal agent 
through which the old fiend deceived the world, 
and opposed the church of God in primitive 
days. 

At the ushering in of this gospel dispensa- 
tion, paganism was the universal religion, with 
the exception of the Jews— a mere handful of 
Roman subjects. Paganism held the highest posi- 
tion on earth when Christ appeared to save the 
world. But he who is called Michael, because 
he is like God, and his angels (messengers— 
holy ministry) waged war against this dragon 
in his high places. Being victorious, Michael 
proved to the world that heathenism had no 



ITS KISE AND PROGEESS. 195 

right to such a high seat. Christ cast the devil 
down, and set his own kingdom up instead. 

It is said that ''the dragon fought and his 
angelSj and prevailed not." This refers to the 
bitter opposition heathen Rome waged against 
Christianity. ''His angels" refer to the advo- 
cates and adherents of paganism. Heathenism 
and Christianity stood in direct opposition. But, 
thank God, "the great dragon was cast out"; 
Christianity prevailed. 

"And they overcame him by the blood of the 
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and 
they loved not their lives unto the death. ' ' Here 
is given the reason why the followers of Christ 
prevailed at this time against all their adver- 
saries. It was because they fought against the 
dragon in the armor of God. "They overcame 
him by the blood of the Lamb," b}^ proclaim- 
ing salvation to sinners through Christ cruci- 
fied, and by their continual intercessions at the 
throne of grace for the conversion of the hea- 
then world. All this they did at the peril of 
their lives. Never before in the history of the 
world was a kingdom established with su(*li con- 
quering power. Never did an army go forth 
with such weapons of warfare. Rome fought 



196 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

witli the sword, cross, fagot, and wild beasts of 
the earth. The Christians ' only weapons were 
the blood of the Lamb and the word of their tes- 
timony. They testified the gospel of Christ 
wherever they went. The Roman hosts fonght 
with swords of steel, while the Christians fonght 
with the sword of the Spirit. Thank God ! ^ ' they 
overcame." When the pagans took a Christian 
to the stake, and the flames were taking his life 
away, he testified that the blood of Jesus saved 
him. The Christians never lifted their hands in 
rebellion, bnt submitted calmly to death, tes- 
tifying to salvation through the blood. The 
dying testimony of one Christian would often 
convert a large number of pagans. Thus the 
blood of the Lamb set forth in testimony slaugh- 
tered pagans faster than it was possible to 
slaughter Christians. The time came when the 
Christians far outnumbered the pagans, and 
the latter threw down their arms and desired 
admittance into the church. Had not an apos- 
tasy taken place, the world would have been 
swept to God. 

Christianity prevailed. That stone smote the 
image and broke it to pieces. Rome tottered 
and finally fell, A. D. 476. When Christianity 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 197 

thus prevailed, the hosts of heaven and of earth 
were heard to shout, ^^Now is come salvation, 
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and 
the power of his Christ." This is a song of 
triumph of the Christian church over heathen 
idolatry, and is very expressive of the great joy 
of the Christians upon this most stupendous 
event. John heard this in heaven, but in reality 
it took place upon earth. 

This great rejoicing of the early church was 
because the ^^ accuser of the brethren" was cast 
down, who accused them day and night. When- 
ever famine, pestilence, or any other calamity 
befell the pagans, they blamed the Christians. 
If a fire broke out in their city, the responsi- 
bility was laid on the Christians, and they were 
slaughtered by the thousand. No wonder there 
was a shout of joy when that power was 
broken. 

I quote from Buller's Ecclesiastical History, 
page 40 : ^ ^ The final victory of Christianity^ over 
heathenism and Judaism and the mixed empire 
of the ancient world, a victory gained without 
physical force by the marvelous power of faith 
and the perseverance of faith and love, is 
one of the siiblimest spectacles of histor} and 




198 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

one of the strongest evidences of the divinity 
and the indestructible life of our holy relig- 
ion/^ 

Tertullian, who wrote about the end of the 
second century, says in his Apology: ^^We are 
a people of yesterday, and yet we have filled 
every place belonging to you [the pagans] — 
cities, islands, castles, towns, assemblies, your 
very camp, your tribes, companies, palace, sen- 
ate, forum. We leave to you your temples alone. 
We can count your armies: our numbers in a 
single province will be greater. We have it 
in our power, without arms and without rebel- 
lion, to fight against you with the weapon of a 
simple divorce. We can leave you to wage your 
wars alone. If such a multitude should draw 
into some remote corner of the world, you doubt- 
less would tremble at your own solitude and 
ask, ^Of whom are we the govenorsT Your 
cruelty avails you nothing. . . The faster you 
mow us down, the more in numbers we grow. 
The blood of Christians is seed. What you call 
our obstinacy is an instructor. For who that 
sees it does not inquire for what we suffer? 
Who that inquires does not embrace our doc- 
trine? Who that embraces it is not ready 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 199 

to give his blood for the fulness of God's 
grace ? ' ' 

It is further said that when the dragon found 
himself cast out ^^he persecuted the woman 
which brought forth the man child." This re- 
fers to the pagan persecutions. When Rome 
saw her religion crumbling under the increas- 
ing light of Christianity, she tried to save her- 
self by slaughtering the Christians; but where 
one saint sealed his testimony with his blood, 
ten took his place. Watch-fires were kindled in 
every land, and finally Rome went to pieces. 

^^And to the woman were given two wings 
of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wil- 
derness, into her place, where she is nourished 
for a time, and times, and half a time, from the 
face of the serpent." Rev. 12:14. This wil- 
derness is the same as that of verse 6, which re- 
fers to the great apostasy of the church. 

This same great conflict and victory of the 
church over paganism is brought to view in 
Revelation 20 : ^ ^ And I saw an angel come down 
from heaven, having the key of the bottomless 
pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid 
hold on the dragon, that old seri)eiit, which is 
the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thouscind 



200 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and 
shut liim up, and set a seal upon him, that he 
should deceive the nations no more, till the thou- 
sand years should be fulfilled: and after that he 
must be loosed a little season." Verses 1-3. 
This scripture, no doubt, has been more specu- 
lated upon than any other in the Bible. It is 
used as a foundation for all the multiplied ab- 
surdities and diversities of false doctrines re- 
specting a fancied millennium future. 

In order to prop up a corrupt theory, many 
men and women will, in their blind zeal, set 
aside the plain testimony of New-Testament 
scripture and literalize this text. But no such 
thing is hinted at as a future literal reign upon 
earth. If the reader will closely compare Rev. 
20:1-3 with Rev. 12:7-11, he will observe that 
tlio same event is referred to in both passages. 
The angel is a symbol of the host of Christians, 
es|")ccially the ministers. They possess the keys 
of the kingdom and have power to bind and 
loose, to lock and unlock. At most, this an- 
gel's having the keys of the pit symbolize its 
power nnd authority. As the ministers stand 
for the whole church, this angel that came down 
from heaven is Christianity in lici* virgin pu- 



[TS ItiSK AND PUCXIRESS. 201 

rity. Christinriity came from heaven; })agan- 
ism came from hell. So in this symbol we have 
these two powers brought face to face in awful 
conflict. 

The language of this text is liighly figura- 
tive. The dragon here referred to is the same 
as that in Revelation 12; namely, j)agan Rome. 
There is but one dragon brought to view in 
the book of llevelation— the dragon with seven 
heads and ten horns (12: 3). That dragon rep- 
resents Rome under i\\() pagan religion. The 
appellations ^M)evil" and ^^ Satan" are applied 
to this hellish power both in Revelation 12 and 
20, We have before observed why these terms 
were applied to yiaganism— because its religion 
was purely of devilish origin, and because it was 
the chief instrument through which the devil 
deceived the whole then-known world. When 
this power ruled the earth, and its religion was 
universal, Christianity, like an angel of mercy 
from heaven, came to eaitli and established a 
kingdom of righteousness and peace in direct 0|)- 
position to tlie dragon-[)ower of j)aganism. With 
the great chain of gospel truth Christianity 
bound the dragon and hurled it from ils lofty 
position to the great abyss from which it eraa- 



202 THE CHKISTIAN CHURCH: 

nated. After paganism under the Roman power 
had been cast down by Christianity, it no longer 
deceived the nations. During the dark days that 
followed the morning-light age of the church, 
the nations were deceived by another power— 
a corrupt and hellish religion labeled Chris- 
tian, symbolized by a beast. 

The one thousand years signify the long 
period of time when paganism as a religion was 
largely extinct. 

'^And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, 
and judgment was given unto them." Rev. 
20 : 4. John saw this after the angel came down 
and while he was binding the dragon. Like 
Rev. 12:10, this refers to the triumph of the 
early church over heathen darkness; the glory 
of Christ's kingdom before the apostasy. 
Through the regenerating power of the Holj^ 
Spirit multitudes were raised up from a dead 
state in sin to life in Christ. This great host 
thus quickened into life in the clear morning of 
the Christian era composed the first great spir- 
itual resurrection. Through full salvation they 
were made kings and priests unto God ; and, sit- 
ting upon thrones of love, they reigned ^4n 
life" over sin, Satan, and disease. Judgment 



ITS lilSE AND PROGRESS. 203 

was given to them. This refers to the right- 
eous judgments of God which filled the early 
church. 

Thus, in brief, we trace the church through 
her first great conflict with ecclesiastical pow- 
ers, and behold her sweep onward with triumph 
over all her foes. As we follow her to the end 
of the world, we give a history of events which 
should awaken a deep interest in the minds and 
hearts of all. 

^^No one takes much interest in the history 
of the world before the coming of Christ. The 
old dynasties of Babylon, Media, Assyria, are 
but dim specters lost in the remoteness of the 
long-forgotten past. Though the Christian lin- 
gers with solemn pleasure over the faintly re- 
vealed scenes of patriarchal life, still he feels 
but little personal interest in the gorgeous em- 
pires which rise and disappear before him in 
those remote times, in spectral visions, like the 
genii of an Arabian tale. Thebes, Palmyra, 
Nineveh — palatial mansions once lined their 
streets, and pride and opulence thronged tlieir 
dwellings: but their ruins have faded away, 
their rocky sepulchers are swept clean by the 
winds of centuries; and none but a few anti- 



204 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

quarians now care to know of their prosperity 
and adversity, of their pristine grandeur and 
their present decay. 

^^AU this is changed since the coming of 
Christ. Nineteen centuries ago a babe was bom 
in the stable of an inn, in the Roman province 
of Judea. The life of that babe has stamped a 
new impress upon the history of the world. 
When the child Jesus was born, all the then- 
known nations of the earth were in subjection 
to one government— that of Rome. The At- 
lantic Ocean was an unexplored sea, whose 
depths no mariner ever ventured to penetrate. 
The India s had but a shadowy and almost fabu- 
lous existence. Rumor said, that over the 
wild, unexplored wastes of interior Asia, fierce 
tribes wandered, sweeping to and fro, like de- 
mons of darkness; and marvelous stories were 
told of their monstrous aspect and fiend-like 
ferocity. The Mediterranean Sea, then the larg- 
est body of water really known upon the globe, 
was but a Roman lake. It was the central por- 
tion of the Roman empire. Around its shores 
were clustered the thronged provinces and the 
majestic cities which gave Rome celebrity above 
all previous dynasties, and which invested the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 205 

empire of the Caesars with fame that no modem 
kingdom, empire, or republic, has been able to 
eclipse. 

^^A few years before the birth of Christ, 
Julius Caesar perished in the senate chamber at 
Rome, pierced by the daggers of Brutus and 
other assassins. At the great victory of Phar- 
salia, Caesar had struck down his only rival, 
Pompey, and had concentrated the power of the 
world in his single hand. His nephew, Octa- 
vius, the second Caesar, surnamed Augustus, or 
tlie August, was, at the time Jesus was born, 
the monarch of the world. Notwithstanding a 
few nominal restraints, he was an absolute sov- 
ereign, without any constitutional checks. It is 
not too much to say that his power was un- 
limited. He could do what he pleased with the 
property, liberty, and the life of every man, 
woman, and child of more than three hundred 
millions, composing the Roman empire. Such 
power no mortal had ever swayed before. Lit- 
tle did this Roman emperor imagine, as he sat 
enthroned in his gorgeous palace upon the Capi- 
tol ine Hill, that a babe slumbering in a manger 
at Bethlehem, an obscure hamlet in the remote 
province of Syria, and whose infant wailings 



206 THE CKRISTIAN CHURCH: 

perhaps blended with the bleating of the goats 
or the lowing of the kine, was to establish an 
empire, before which all the power of the Caesars 
was to dwindle into insignificance. 

^^But so it was, Jesus the babe of Bethle- 
hem, has become, beyond all others, whether 
l)hilosophers, warriors, or kings, the most con- 
s])icuous being who ever trod this globe. Be- 
fore the name of Jesus of Nazareth all others 
fade away. Uneducated, he has introduced 
principles which have overthrown the proudest 
system of ancient philosophy. By the utter- 
ance of a few words, all of which can be written 
on half a dozen pages, he has demolished all the 
pagan systems ivhich pride and passion and 
poiver had then enthroned. The Roman gods and 
goddesses— Jupiter, Juno, Venus, Bacchus, Di- 
ana—have fled before the approach of the re- 
ligion of Jesus, as fabled specters vanish before 
the dawn. Jesus, the ^Son of man' and 'Son 
of God,' has introduced a system of religion so 
comprehensive, that it is adapted to every con- 
ceivable situation in life; so simple, that the 
most unlearned, and even children, can compre- 
hend it. This babe of Bethlehem, whose words 
were so few, whose brief life was so soon ended, 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 207 

and whose sacrificial death upon the cross was 
so wonderful, though dead, still lives and reigns 
in this world— a monarch more influential than 
any other, or all other sovereigns upon the 
globe. His empire has advanced majestically, 
with ever-increasing power, down the path of 
eighteen centuries. 

' ' The Caesars have perished, and their palaces 
are in ruins. The empire of Charlemagne has 
risen, like one of those gorgeous clouds we often 
admire, brilliant with the radiance of the setting 
sun; and like that cloud, it has vanished for- 
ever. Charles V has marshaled the armies of 
Europe around his throne, and has almost riv- 
aled the Caesars in the majesty of his sway; 
and, like a dream, the vision of his universal 
empire has fled. But the kingdom of Jesus has 
survived all these wrecks of empires. Without 
a palace or a court; without a bayonet or a 
saber; without any emoluments of rank or 
wealth or power offered by Jesus to his sub- 
jects, his kingdom has advanced steadily, re- 
sistlessly, increasing in strength every hour, 
crushing all opposition, triumphing over all 
time's changes; so that, at the present moment, 
the kingdom of Jesus is a stronger kingdom. 



208 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

more potent in all the elements of influence over 
the human heart, tham all other governments of 
earth. 

^^ There is not a man upon this globe who 
would now lay down his life from love for any 
one of the numerous monarchs of Rome; but 
there are thousands who would go joyfully to 
the dungeon or the stake from love for that Je- 
sus who commenced his earthly career in the 
manger of a country inn, whose whole life was 
but a scene of poverty and suffering, and who 
finally perished upon the cross in the endurance 
of a cruel death with malefactors. 

^'As this child, from the period of whose birth 
time itself is now dated, was passing through 
the season of infancy and childhood, naval fleets 
swept the Mediterranean Sea, and Roman le- 
gions trampled bloodily over subjugated provin- 
ces. There were conflagrations of cities, rava- 
ges of fields, fierce battles, slaughter, misery, 
and death. Nearly all these events are now for- 
gotten ; but the name of Jesus of Nazareth 
grows more lustrous as the ages rolt on.''— 
Abbott's History of Christianity. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 209 



The Government of the Church. 

The government of the church of God is a 
theocracy. God himself works ^'all in all" the 
members. It will be remembered that this was 
God's plan under the legal dispensation. He 
said to Israel, ^^I am your King," and it was 
his design to be the supreme king and governor 
of his people in that dispensation. But the Is- 
raelites rebelled and took the government out 
of his hands and set over them earthly kings 
and rulers. It was prophesied that in this dis- 
pensation of divine grace the God of heaven 
would set up an everlasting kingdom, and in 
that kingdom he reigns supreme, the King of 
kings and Lord of lords. He is declared to be 
the King of saints. 

As he is king and head over all things to the 
church, the government necessarily rests upon 
his shoulders. Accordingly, we read, ^^For unto 
us a child is bom, unto us a son is given: and 
the government shall be upon his shoulder : and 
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, 
The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The 
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his govern- 



210 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

ment and peace there shall be no end, upon the 
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order 
it, and to establish it with judgment and with 
justice from henceforth even for ever." Isa. 
9:6, 7. Here it will be seen that the new-testa- 
ment church has government, but that Christ 
himself is the governor of his people. ^^The 
government shall be upon his shoulder." He 
is the chief shepherd, the niler, the head, ' ' that 
in all things he might have the preeminence." 
As governor and head of his church, he has 
given us a perfect law. That law is the truth, 
the gospel. The church of God is a divine in- 
stitution: hence the divine law which the Lord 
has given is sufficient for its government. So 
there is no excuse for the modem creeds of men. 
Modem sects are of human origin and hence 
need human, or man-made, rules or discipline. 
But had the church of God needed more than the 
New Testament, the allwise Lawgiver would 
certainly have given us more. Modem creeds 
and disciplines being the products of men who 
are fallible, they are veiy imperfect and need 
revision. So from time to time, sectarians meet 
in conference, synod, or presbytery, and change 
and revise their articles of faith to suit the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 211 

times. But the divine law which governs the 
true church of God being perfect, it needs no 
revision. It remains forever the same. So in 
discarding all the creeds of men and accept- 
ing, teaching, and practising the whole truth 
contained in the gospel of Christ, we have the 
same perfect rule of faith, the same govern- 
ment and discipline, that was enjoined upon the 
primitive Christians. This is government di- 
vine. 

The Lord by his Spirit calls and qualifies 
certain ones for the work of the ministry. These 
he places in authority in his church, and they 
execute his law. In this sense ^'governments'' 
are placed within the church (1 Cor. 12:28). 
But those who feel this responsibility and la- 
bor in such capacity labor under the direction 
and guidance of the Chief Shepherd, the Chief 
Governor of his people. God's ministers are 
only under-shepherds, and what government is 
administered, and whatever law is enforced by 
them, is simply by the direction of him upon 
whom the real government of the church rests 
and who works ^'all in all" the members. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 213 



Classification of the Primitive Ministry. 

The whole ministry of the church of God is 
classified by the apostle Paul as follows: ^'And 
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; 
and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and 
teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for 
the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of 
the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of 
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of 
the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we 
henceforth be no more children tossed to and 
fro, and carried about with every wind of doc- 
trine, by the sleight of men, and cunning crafti- 
ness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Eph. 
4: 11-14. ^'And God hath set some in the church, 
first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly 
teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of heal- 
ings, helps, governments, diversities of 
tongues." 1 Cor. 12:28. 

The ministers classified in these two scrip- 
tures are identical. They are properly divided 
into, two classes— traveling and local. Travel- 
ing preachers plant churches and water the 



214 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

same; while tlie local, shepherd and feed the 
flocks. All these gifts were necessary to the 
perfect government of the early church, and 
they are just as necessary today. Whatever was 
essential then is essential now. 

As before stated, the early ministry were 
properly divided into two classes— local and 
traveling. The term ^"^ elder" applies in Scrip- 
ture to both the traveling and the local ministry. 
First, to the traveling. *^The elders which are 
among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and 
a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also 
a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed." 
1 Pet. 5: 1. '^The elder unto the elect lady and 
her children, whom I love in the truth ; and not 
I only, but also all they that have known the 
truth." 2 John 1. ^^The elder unto the well 
beloved Gains, whom I love in the truth." 3 
John 1. Secondly, to the local. ^'And when 
they had preached the gospel to that city, and 
had taught many, they returned again to Lys- 
tra, and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the 
souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to 
continue in the faith, and that we must through 
much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. 
And when they had ordained them elders in ev- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 215 

ery church, and had prayed with fasting, they 
commended them to the Lord, on whom they be- 
lieved." Acts 14: 21-23. ^^To Titus, mine own 
son after the common faith: Grrace, mercy, and 
peace, from God the Father, and the Lord Je- 
sus Christ our Savior. For this cause left I 
thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order 
the things that are wanting, and ordain elders 
in every city, as I had appointed thee." Tit. 
1 : 4, 5. 

They ordained elders in every church— in 
every city. These were the local ministers who 
cared for and fed the flock. But Paul and John 
were both traveling preachers. They were apos- 
tles, and each testified to being an elder. If 
Paul and John were elders, then all God's 
preachers are elders, all on one common plane. 
But some may object that ^^ elder" simply means 
^^ older one," and that therefore elders are a 
class of officers selected from among the older 
ones to form a sort of Sanhedrin. No such 
thought is conveyed in the New-Testament Scrip- 
tures. Though the word literally rendered is 
^^ older one," yet in the New Testament it is used 
in an official sense, not in its literal sense, and 
applies to the sacred calling and office of a min- 




216 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

ister. In Moses' church under the Old Testa- 
ment not all the older men of Israel were termed 
'Hlie elders of the people," but a large num- 
ber (seventy) of men of sound wisdom and 
judgment were selected and these sat as a San- 
hedrin. These were the elders of Israel. Un- 
der the New Testament the term ''elder," as 
before observed, applies to all the ministry, but 
they must be men and women of sound judg- 
ment and wisdom, and fully anointed by divine 
power to be ''able ministers of the new testa- 
ment. ' ' 

The traveling preachers are classified as 
"apostles" and "evangelists." Who were the 
apostles? God gave "some apostles," "first 
apostles." The first twelve ministers chosen by 
Jesus Christ to be the first propagators of his 
kingdom among the lost sheep of the house of 
Israel were called apostles. "And when it was 
day he called unto him his disciples: and of 
them he chose twelve, whom also he named apos- 
tles." Luke 6:13. These twelve were to be 
eye-witnesses of his personal work on earth and 
also of his resurrection from the dead. When 
one was chosen to take the place of Judas, he 
had to be one who had accompanied Jesus Christ 



ITS RISE AND PEOGEESS. 217 

in his personal ministry and had been a witness 
of his resurrection. ^^For it is written in the 
book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, 
and let no man dwell therein : and his bishopric 
let another take. T\Tierefore of these men which 
have companied with ns all the time that the 
Lord Jesus went in and out among ns, beginning 
from the baptism of John, unto that same day 
that he was taken up from us, must one be or- 
dained to be a witness with us of his resurrec- 
tion. And they appointed two, Joseph called 
Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Mat- 
thias. And they prayed, and said. Thou, Lord, 
which knowest the hearts of all men, show 
whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he 
may take part of this ministry and apostleship, 
from which Judas by transgression fell, that he 
might go to his own place. And they gave forth 
their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and 
he was numbered with the eleven apostles." 
Acts 1 : 20-26. 

Through their labors, inspiration, and writ- 
ings, the New Testament has come to us. There- 
fore these twelve form a perpetual foundation 
in the church (Eev. 21 : 14; Eph. 2: 20). Such 
a thing, however, as a succession of ilio number 



218 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

twelve is simply Mormon fiction, invented by 
Joe Smith, who was filled with ^ Visions of his 
own head." 

Jesus Christ was called an apostle because he 
was sent forth from God to accomplish the re- 
demption of man (Heb. 3:1, 2). Paul and 
Barnabas were called apostles because they 
were the first to plant the Christian faith 
among the Grentile nations. ^^But the Jews 
stirred up the devout and honorable women, and 
the chief men of the city, and raised persecu- 
tion against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled 
them out of their coasts. But they shook off the 
dust of their feet against them, and came unto 
Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, 
and with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass 
in Iconium, that they went both together into 
the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that 
a great multitude both of the Jews and also of 
the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews 
stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds 
evil affected against the brethren. Long time 
therefore abode they speaking boldly in the 
Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his 
grace, and granted signs and wonders to be 
done by their hands. But the multitude of the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 219 

city was divided : and part held with the Jews, 
and part, with the apostles." Acts 13:50-52; 
14:1-4. ^^ Which when the apostles, Barnabas 
and Paulj heard of, they rent their clothes, and 
ran in among the people, crying ont.'' Acts 
14:14. 

^^ James, the Lord's brother," was called an 
apostle. ^^Then after three years I went np 
to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him 
fifteen days. Bnt other of the apostles saw I 
none, save James the Lord's brother." Gal. 
1 : 18, 19. Silvanus and Timothens were apos- 
tles. ^^Paul and Silvanus, and Timothens, unto 
the church of the Thessalonians which is in God 
the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ : Grace 
be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, 
and the Lord Jesus Christ." ^^Nor of men 
sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of oth- 
ers, when we might have been burdensome, as 
the apostles of Christ." 1 Thess. 1:1; 2:6. 
Apollos was an apostle. ^^And these things, 
brethren, I have in a figure transferred to my- 
self and to Apollos for your sakes ; that ye might 
learn in us not to think of men above that which 
is wi'itten, that no one of you be puffed u}) foi- 
one against another. For I think that God hath 



220 THE CHRISTIAN CHTRCH: 

set forth us the apostles last, as it were ap- 
pointed to death : for we are made a spectacle 
unto the workh and angels, and to men." 1 
Cor. 4 : 6, 9. 

Here we have clear proof of at least twenty 
who were called apostles in the early church. 
It is evident from a careful reading of the 
Xew Testament that there were many more in 
whom the gift of apostleship was manifested. 

From the testimony of Scripture it is clear 
that an apostle was a i>lanter. The word is 
defined by Webster as '"one who first plants 
the Christian faith.'' We will select the apos- 
tle Paul as an example. He says, in his epis- 
tle to the Corinthians, *'I have planted. Apol- 
los watered: but God gave the increase." 1 
Cor. 3 : 6. By this he means that he was the 
instiiiment God used to plant the Corinthian 
church. This is proved in Acts 18 : 1, 4-11 : 
•* After these things Paul departed from Athens, 
and came to Corinth. And he reasoned in the 
synagogue eveiy sabbath, and persuaded the 
Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and 
Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul 
was pressed in the Spirit, and testified to the 
Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when thev 



ITS RISE AND PROaRESS. 221 

opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook 
his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood 
be upon your own heads; I am clean: from 
henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he 
departed thence, and entered in a certain man's 
house, named Justus, one that worshiped God, 
whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And 
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, be- 
lieved on the Lord with all his house ; and many 
of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were 
baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the 
night by a vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and 
hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no 
man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have 
much people in this city. And he continued 
there a year and six months, teaching the word 
of God among them." This made him their 
apostle. He says, '^If I be not an apostle unto 
others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal 
of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord." 1 Cor. 
9:2. ^^For though ye have ten thousand in- 
structors in Christ, yet have ye not many fa- 
thers : for in Christ Jesus I have begotten yoii 
through the gospel." 1 Cor. 4:15. Through 
Paul's labors the Corinthian church was estab- 
lished. Hence he says, ^^I planted" you; and 



222 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

if not an apostle unto others, ''I am to you"; 
for I have begotten you through the gospel, and 
the seal of mine apostleship ^^are ye in the 
Lord." He further testifies to them, '^Trulv 
the signs of an apostle were wrought among you 
in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty 
deeds." 2 Cor. 12:12. 

From the foregoing we learn that apostles in 
the early church were not a separate class of 
ofl&cers who stood above the rest, but were gifted 
men. Apostleship was not an ofl&ce of itself, 
but was a gift of the Spirit in the ministry; 
apostles were men who were specially endued 
with the various gifts of the Spirit, which quali- 
fied them to enter new fields of labor and plant 
the truth, plant churches. This meant more than 
simply getting a company of believers raised 
up. They were gifted so that they could con- 
firm and establish such assemblies in faith, 
truth, and holiness, and lead them into the va- 
rious gifts necessary to make their local work 
effectual. Paul had a general ^'care of all the 
churches ' ' ; that is, he felt the responsibility of 
the work in general. 

But were there to be elders in the church in 
these last days qualified with the gifts to do the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 223 

work of apostles? Yes. '^Rejoice over her, 
thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets ; 
for God hath avenged you on her.'' Rev. 18: 
20. In this evening time when Babylon should 
fallj there were to be apostles who would rejoice 
over her downfall. 

The other traveling elders were termed 
' ' evangelists. ' ' '' And some evangelists. ' ' Eph. 
4: 11. Philip was called ^^the evangelist" (Acts 
21 : 8). Paul exhorted Timothy to ^^do the work 
of an evangelist'' (2 Tim. 4:2). The real work 
of evangelists is seen in 1 Cor. 3:6: ^'I have 
planted, ApoUos watered, but God gave the in- 
crease. ' ' Their work was usually to labor among 
churches already established, to stir up the re- 
vival spirit among them, and to water the saints 
—refresh them. But in the church of God, while 
these gifts were given ^^to profit withal," there 
was nothing legalistic, as in sectism today. An 
apostle could ^^do the work of an evangelist." 
Both Apollos and Timothy were apostles, but 
they did some evangelizing too. Such some- 
times went into new fields and planted churches, 
as Philip the evangelist at Samaria; and the 
apostles came and established them, as Peter 
and John did (Acts 8). 



224 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

This gives us a brief idea of the work of the 
traveling elders. The apostles entered new 
fields and preached the gospel, God working 
with them and confirming the word with signs 
following. Under their labors churches were 
planted. The Lord held them responsible for 
the welfare of those assemblies until local of- 
ficers had been raised up and everything ^^set 
in order. ' ' Sometimes it was necessary for the 
apostle to remain in such fields of labor for 
years. For a minister to plant a church and 
then run off and leave it without a spiritual fa- 
ther 's care and proper shepherding is to work 
contrary to God's plan. Such work brings dis- 
aster. A careful reading of the Acts will show 
that the apostles remained at Jerusalem for a 
long period of time. Paul abode for a number 
of years at some places in order to establish the 
work; at other points he left workers, as Titus 
in Crete (see Tit. 1:4, 5). 

The local elders are termed ^^ pastors" and 
^^ teachers." Eph. 4: 11. A plurality of elders 
were ordained in some of the larger local as- 
semblies. ^^And when they had ordained them 
elders in every church, and had prayed with 
fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 225 

whom they believed." Acts 14: 23. '^For this 
cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest 
set in order the things that are wanting, and 
ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed 
thee." Tit. 1:5. ''And from Miletus he sent 
to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. " 
Acts 20 : 17. ' ' And when we were come to Je- 
rusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And 
the day following Paul went in with us unto 
James ; and all the elders were present. ' ' Acts 
21 : 17, 18. You will notice that in the differ- 
ent churches they ordained elders. The last two 
texts clearly show a plurality of them in the 
church at Jerusalem and also at Ephesus. 

They were the overseers of the assemblies. 
Their work is clearly set forth in the following 
texts: ''And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, 
and called the elders of the church. Take heed 
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, 
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made yon 
overseers, to feed the church of God, which he 
hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20: 
17, 28. "The elders which are among you I ex- 
hort, who am also an elder, and a witness of 
the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker ot* 
the glory that shall be revealed: feed the (lock 



226 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

of God which is among you, taking the over- 
sight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; 
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; neither 
as being lords over God's heritage, but ensam- 
pies to the flock. ' ' 1 Pet. 5 : 1-3. Their work 
was feeding the church, ministering to them 
the word of life, taking the oversight, caring 
for the little ones, and protecting them from the 
impositions of the devil through heresy of false 
teachers. 

^^ Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and 
edify one another, even as also ye do. And we 
beseech you, brethren, to know them which la- 
bor among you and are over you in the Lord, 
and admonish you; and to esteem them very 
highly in love for their work's sake. And be at 
peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, 
brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the 
feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient 
toward all men. See that none render evil for 
evil unto any man; but ever follow that which 
is good, both among yourselves, and to all men." 
1 Thess. 5 : 11-15. ' ' Remember them which have 
the rule over you, who have spoken unto you 
the word of God: whose faith follow, consider- 
ing the end of their conversation." Heb. 13: 



i 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 227 

7. ^ ^ Obey them that have the rule over you, and 
submit yourselves: for they watch for your 
souls, as they that must give account, that they 
may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that 
is unprofitable for you. ' ' Heb. 13 : 17. These 
texts clearly set forth the responsible work of 
the local elders. Comments can not make them 
clearer. 

Another work of these elders is seen in Jas. 
5: 14, 15: ^^Is any sick among you? let him call 
for the elders of the church ; and let them pray 
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of 
the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save 
the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up ; and if 
he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven 
him." 

^^And I will give you pastors according to 
mine heart, which shall feed you with knowl- 
edge and understanding. ' ' Jer. 3 : 15. '' And 
I will set up shepherds over them which shall 
feed them : and they shall fear no more, nor be 
dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith 
the Lord. ' ' Jer. 23 : 4. We will here insert a 
quotation from the early writings on tliis point: 
^^Let the presbyters [elders] be compassionate 
and merciful to all, bringing back those that 



228 THE CH[RISTIAN CHURCH: 

wander, visiting all the sick, and not neglecting 
the widow, the orphan, or the poor, but always 
providing for that which is becoming in the 
sight of God and of man; abstaining from all 
wrath, respect of persons, and unjust judgment ; 
keeping far off from all covetousness, not 
quickly crediting an evil report against any one, 
not severe in judgment."— Epistle of Polycarp, 
Chap. VI. While a quotation from history, this 
clearly sets forth the work of the new-testa- 
ment elders. At a glance any one can see the 
need of such work in every assembly. Feed- 
ing and caring for the flock does not include 
merely preaching the word, but visiting the 
brethren, praying with them, calling upon the 
sick and poor, and ministering to them. How 
simple the plan of apostolic government and 
yet how well arranged by the infinite wisdom 
of him who worketh ' ' all in all ' ' ! 

As before observed, Paul divides these elders 
into two classes— pastors and teachers. These 
do not form two classes of officers. There was 
but one '^office of a bishop" (1 Tim. 3:1, 2). 
There was only the one office for the local elders 
—bishops— that of overseers. But their gifts 
were not all the same. ^^Let the elders that 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 229 

rule well be counted worthy of double honor, 
especially they who labor in the word and doc- 
trine." 1 Tim. 5:17. The reader can easily 
observe that Paul speaks of some elders who la- 
bored in word and doctrine and of others who 
did not; some who were public preachers— pas- 
tors—others who were not preachers, yet were 
men of faith, good judgment and wisdom ; men 
able in private to teach and instruct in the ways 
of salvation. The latter are the teachers. This 
distinction is made in Rom. 12:6-8: ^^ Heaving 
then gifts differing according to the grace that 
is given to us, whether prophecy, let us proph- 
esy according to the proportion of faith ; or min- 
istry, let us wait on our ministering; or 
he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that 
exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let 
him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with 
diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheer- 
fulness. ' ' 

The qualifications of Bible elders— bishops 
—are found in the following texts: ^^For this 
cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest 
set in order the things that are wanting, and 
ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed 
thee: if any be blameless, the husband of oue 



230 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

wife, having faithful children not accused of riot 
or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as 
the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon 
angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given 
to filthy lucre ; but a lover of hospitality, a lover 
of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate ; hold- 
ing fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, 
that he may be able by sound doctrine both to 
exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For 
there are many unruly and vain talkers and de- 
ceivers, specially they of the circumcision: 
whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert 
whole houses, teaching things which they ought 
not, for filthy lucre's sake." Tit. 1: 5-11. ^^A 
bishop then must be blameless, the husband of 
one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given 
to hospitality, apt to teach, not given to wine, 
no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre: but pa- 
tient, not a brawler, not covetous ; one that rul- 
eth well his own house, having his children in 
subjection with all gravity; (for if a man know 
not how to rule his own house, how shall he take 
care of the church of God?) not a novice, lest 
being lifted up with pride he fall into the con- 
demnation of the devil. Moreover he must have 
a good report of them which are without; lest 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 231 

lie fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. ' ' 
1 Tim. 3:2-7. 

Among the early ministers were a class of 
men with the gift of prophecy. They were 
known as ^^ prophets." *^Now there were in the 
church that was at Antioch certain prophets 
and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that 
was called Niger, and Lucins of Gyrene, and 
Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod 
the tetrarch, and Saul.'' Acts 13: 1. The work 
of the prophets and their office are clearly seen 
in the following scriptures: ^'And in these days 
came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. 
And there stood up one of them named Aga- 
bus, and signij&ed by the Spirit that there should 
be great dearth throughout all the world : which 
came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar." 
Acts 11 : 27, 28. ^* And as we tarried there many 
days, there came down from Judea a certain 
prophet, named Agabus. And when he was 
come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound 
his own hands and feet, and said. Thus saith 
the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem 
bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall 
deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." 
Acts 21 : 10, 11. 



232 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

It has been thought by some that there is no 
need of prophets under the new covenant; but 
the above texts prove that there were prophets 
in the church before the apostasy, and God has 
them in his church today. These may be among 
either the traveling or the local ministry. There 
were a number of prophets in the church at 
Antioch. Prophets also traveled, as Agabus. 
Philip the evangelist ^^had four daughters which 
did prophesy. ' ' 

One work of a prophet was foretelling events. 
Agabus signified by the Spirit that there would 
be a dearth throughout the whole land, and, we 
are told, ^4t came to pass in the days of Clau- 
dius Caesar." Agabus was a true prophet of 
God. It was he who also foretold what would 
befall the apostle Paul at Jerusalem. But the 
work of the prophets included more than fore- 
telling future events. ^^ Though I have the gift 
of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and 
all knowledge." 1 Cor. 13: 2. Here we see that 
there was a special gift of prophecy, which un- 
raveled deep mysteries and gave knowledge. 
Those who possessed this gift were able to in- 
terpret prophecy by the Spirit of God. Since 
we have returned in these last days to the mount 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 233 

of holiness and trutli, the spirit of prophecy 
is again manifested among God's ministry. We 
sit with awe and listen to God's prophets as 
they unravel the mysteries of prophecy and 
revelation. 

Having briefly considered both the traveling 
and the local ministry who were termed ^'el- 
ders, ' ' we will now consider another class of of- 
ficers called ^^ deacons." '^Likewise must the 
deacons be grave, not double-tongued, not given 
to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre ; holding 
the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 
And let these also first be proved ; then let them 
use the ofl&ce of a deacon, being found blame- 
less. Even so must their wives be grave, not 
slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the 
deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling 
their children and their own houses well. For 
they that have used the office of a deacon well 
purchase to themselves a good degree, and great 
boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus." 
1 Tim. 3:8-13. 

' ' The offibe of a deacon. ' ' This language im- 
plies that in the early church there was a class 
of officers by that name. Deacon is from dia- 
honos, which signifies a minister or servant. Its 



234 THE CHKISTIAN CHUECH: 

literal meaning would cover both those who 
minister the word and such as minister in tem- 
poral affairs; both to those who serve in the 
gospel and those who serve in temporal things ; 
that is, dealing out food to the hungry and look- 
ing after the temporal needs of the church. The 
real oflS.ce of a deacon evidently has to do with 
the latter. Our reasons for believing so are 
these: All those who are ministers of the word, 
both traveling and local, are officially called 
^'elders." The office of a deacon is a separate 
offijce from that of elders. Therefore those who 
minister in the temporal affairs of the church 
are officially termed ^^ deacons." Some of those 
officially appointed deacons, however, may min- 
ister the word, as did Stephen at Jerusalem. 

^^And in those days, when the number of the 
disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmur- 
ing of the Grecians against the Hebrews, be- 
cause their widows were neglected in the daily 
ministration. Then the twelve called the mul- 
titude of the disciples unto them, and said. It 
is not reason that we should leave the word of 
God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, 
look ye out among you seven men of honest re- 
port, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 235 

we may appoint over this business. But we 
will give ourselves continually to prayer, and 
to the ministry of the word. And the saying 
pleased the whole multitude; and they chose 
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, 
and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a prose- 
lyte of Antioch ; whom they set before the apos- 
tles : and when they had prayed they laid their 
hands on them. ' ' Acts 6 : 1-6. These are gen- 
erally referred to as deacons. When the church 
at Jerusalem was scattered on account of the 
persecution, then Philip, one of the seven, 
started into the ministry and was successful as 
an evangelist. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 237 

The Humble Equality of the Apostolic 
Ministry. 

Jesus set the standard of humble equality. 
^^But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your 
Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." 
Matt. 23 : 8. '^Neither be ye called masters : for 
one is your Master, even Christ. But he that 
is greatest among you shall be your servant. 
And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be 
abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be 
exalted." Matt. 23: 10-12. ^^And there was also 
a strife among them, which of them should be 
accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, 
The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over 
them; and they that exercise authority upon 
them are called benefactors. But ye shall not 
be so: but he that is greatest among you, let 
him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as 
he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he 
that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not 
he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as 
he that serveth." Luke 22:24-27. 

Oh, what humbleness is here taught! *^Ye 
are brethren." No one among you is higher 
than another or can possibly have from me any 



238 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

jurisdiction over the rest. Ye are, in this re- 
spect, perfectly equal. He showed them how 
the Gentiles exalted some above others, but 
said, ^^It shall not be so among you.'' 

I will here insert a few extracts from his- 
tory. ' ' The church was in the beginning a com- 
munity of brethren. All its members were 
taught of God, and each possessed the liberty 
of drawing for himself from the divine fountain 
of life. The epistles, which then settled the 
great questions of doctrine, did not bear the 
pompous title of any single man or ruler. We 
find from the Holy Scriptures that they began 
simply with these words: ^The apostles and 
elders and brethren send greeting unto the 
brethren. ' Acts 15 : 23. But the writings of 
these very apostles forewarn us that from the 
midst of these brethren, there shall arise a 
power which shall overthrow this simple and 
primitive order."— D'Aubigne's History of the 
Reformation, book I, chap. I. 

^^The doctrine of 'the church,' and of 'the 
necessity for its visible unity, ' which had gained 
footing so early as the third century, favored the 
pretensions of Rome. The great bond which 
originally bound together the members of the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 239 

church was a living faith in the heart, by which 
all were joined to Christ as their own head. 
But various causes erelong conspired to origi- 
nate and develop the idea of the necessity for 
some exterior fellowship. Men, accustomed to 
the associations and political forms of an earthly 
country, carried their views and habits into the 
spiritual and everlasting kingdom of Jesus 
Christ. The invisible and spiritual church was 
identical with the visible and outward com- 
munity. But soon a great distinction appeared 
—the form and vital principle parted asunder. 
The semblance of identical and external or- 
ganization was gradually substituted in place of 
the internal and spiritual unity which is the very 
essence of a religion proceeding from God. Men 
suffered the precious perfume of faith to es- 
cape while they bowed themselves before the 
empty vase that held it. Faitli in the heart no 
longer knit together in one the members of the 
church. Then it united by means of bishops, 
archbishops, popes, miters, ceremonies, and 
canons. The living church retiring hj degrees 
to the lonely sanctuary of a few solitary souls— 
an exterior church was substituted in place of 
it, and installed in all its forms as of divine 



240 THE CHRISTIAN CHTJECH: 

institution. ... In the beginning of the gospel, 
whosoever had received the Spirit of Jesus 
Christ was esteemed a member of the church. 
Xow the order was inverted, and no one un- 
less a member of the church was counted to have 
received the Spirit of Jesus Christ." 

^ ' It is a noteworthy fact, when the founder of 
Christianity left the world, he made no provis- 
ion for any quarterly, or annual, or periodical 
assembly of his apostles, his ministers, or his 
followers: he appointed no time nor place for 
them to congregate, to report, confer, or legis- 
late: he gave to no one authority to convoke 
such an assembly: and he gave his disciples no 
reason to suppose that five thousand Christians 
assembled had gi^eater authority than two or 
three who had met in his name, in whose midst 
he promised to be. And so far from empower- 
ing his followers to combine and legislate for 
themselves or their associates, he expressly de- 
fined their duties to be. not the contriving and 
imposing of new precepts upon the church, but 
rather the making of disciples among all na- 
tions, ^teaching them to observe all things what- 
soever I have conmianded you. ' 

^'The apostles and early church seemed to 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 241 

understand their duties, and carefully refrained 
from meddling with such affairs, or setting up 
courts or ecclesiastical judicatures, and even 
when consulted by the Gentile converts who 
were afflicted by intrusion of proselyting Jews, 
they only rehearsed a few ^necessary things,' 
for their observance; things that had been re- 
garded as obligatory from the times of Noah 
down ; and declined to undertake anything analo- 
gous to the ecclesiastical legislation of the pres- 
ent day. And so the apostles parted, and went 
forth, probably never expecting to meet again 
until Hhe coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and 
our gathering unto him.' The servants of God 
were attending to their proper work of preach- 
ing the gospel, feeding the flock, and saving 
men; and it was not until religious apostasy 
and imperial power and patronage combined to 
corrupt and impair the integrity of the church, 
that the work of calling councils and legislating 
for the church of God commenced."— Who 
Made the New Testament? pages 3, 4. 

In the foregoing we see, according to the testi- 
mony of history, the equality of the early minis- 
try and their humbleness. If there was such a 
thingin the early church as one class of preachers 



242 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

being above the rest and exercising lordship 
over them, such arrangement was in direct op- 
position to the teaching of Christ ; for he posi- 
tively tanght them, ^^It shall not be so among 
you, ' ' but ' ' All ye are brethren. ' ' But the early 
church started in vrith an equality of the min- 
istry. The above quotations from history 
clearly set forth the standard. All the preach- 
ers were officially called ^^ elders," and all were 
on the same plane. 

^'The elders which are among you I exhort, 
who am also an elder, and a witness of the suf- 
ferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the 
glory that shall be revealed: . . . neither as be- 
ing lords over God's heritage, but being en- 
samples to the flock." 1 Pet. 5: 1, 3. The fol- 
lowing is an extract from Adam Clark's com- 
ments on this text: ^^In this text, the term 
preshuteros (elders or presbyters) is the name 
of an office. They were as pastors or shepherds 
of the flock of God, the Christian people among 
whom they lived. They ivere the same as bishops 
. . . and teachers. That these were the same as 
bishops the next verse joroves. ^Who also am 
an eldev^— preshuteros. One on a level with 
vour selves." 



1 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 243 

^^ Neither as being lords over God's heritage." 
According to Paul, there are to be no lords over 
God's heritage; the bishops and presbyters, 
who are appointed by the head of the church 
(Christ), are to feed the flock; to guide and to 
defend it, not to fleece and waste it; and they 
are to look for their reward in another world, 
and the approbation of God in their consciences. 
In humility, self-abasement, self-renunciation, 
and heavenly-mindedness, they are to be en- 
samples— types— to the flock; molds of a heav- 
enly form, into which the spirit and lives of the 
flock may be cast, so that they may come out 
after a perfect pattern. We need not ask. Does 
the church that arrogates to itself the exclusive 
title of Catholic, and do its supreme pastors, 
who aflFect to be the successors of Peter and 
the vicars of Jesus Christ, act in this way? They 
are in every sense the reverse of this. But 
we may ask. Do the other churches (meaning 
the Protestant sects), which profess to be re- 
formed from the abominations of the above, 
follow the advice of the apostle? Have they 
pastors according to God's own heart, who feed 
them with knowledge and understanding? Do 
they not feed themselves instead of the flock? 



244 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

are they not lords over the heritage of Christ, 
ruling with a high ecclesiastico-secular hand? 

The above cuts a clear line of distinction be- 
tween the modern lords of Babylon and the 
humble, equal ministry of the early church. The 
apostle Peter placed himself on a common level 
with the local presbyters, and also stated that 
he was a fellow presbyter. In the New Testa- 
ment ^^ bishop" and ^^ elder'' are terms used' 
interchangeably and applied to the same class 
of officers— the ministers. 

Bishop. ^^In the primitive church, a spiritual 
overseer; an elder or presbyter; one who has 
the pastoral care of a church."— Webster. 

^^The same persons are called elders and 
presbyters, and overseers and bishops."— 
Scott, Com. 

^^Till the churches were multiplied (and apos- 
tatized), the bishops and presbyters were the 
same."— Ibid. 

'^Both the Greek and Latin Fathers do, with 
one consent, declare that bishops were called 
presbyters and presbyters bishops in apostolic 
times, the name being then common."— Whit- 
bey. 

^^It appears that those who are called elders 



ITS RISE AND PROOEESS. 245 

in this place [Tit. 1:5] are the same as those 
termed bishops in verse 7. We have many 
proofs that bishops and elders were of the same 
order in the apostolic church, though after- 
ward they became distinct."— Adam Clark. 

^^The rulers of the church were called their 
presbyters or bishops, which two titles are, in 
the New Testament, undoubtedly applied to the 
same order of men. . . . Let no one confound the 
bishops of this primitive and golden period of 
the church with those of whom we read in the 
following ages. For, though they were botli 
distinguished by the same name, yet they dif- 
fered extremely, and that in many respects."— 
Mosheim, vol. I, page 99. 

^^It is also true that in the earliest govern- 
ment of the first Christian society, that of Je- 
rusalem, not the elders only, but the ^ whole 
church' were associated with the apostles; and 
it is even certain that the terms ^bishop' and 
'elder' or 'presbyter' were, in the first instances, 
and for a short period, sometimes used syn- 
onomously, and indiscriminately applied to the 
same order in the ministry."— Waddington's 
Church History, part I, page 41. 

''The earliest Christian conununities appear 



246 THE CHjEISTIAN CHURCH: 

to have been ruled and represented, in the ab- 
sence of the apostle who was their first founder, 
by their elders, who are likewise called bishops, 
or overseers of the church."— Millman's His- 
tory of Christianity, page 194. 

Kurtz, in his Church History, says : ^ ^ To aid 
them in their work, or to supply their places in 
their absence (i^cts 14:23), the apostles or- 
dained rulers in every church, who bore the 
common name of elders from their dignitj^, and 
of bishops from the nature of their office. That 
originally the elders were the same as the bish- 
ops, we gather with absolute certainly from the 
statements of the New Testament and Clement 
of Rome, a disciple of the apostles. (See his 
first Epistle to the Corinthians, chapters 42, 44). 
The presbyters are expressly called bishops— 
compare [the Greek especially] Acts 20 : 17 with 
verse 28, and Tit. 1 : 5 with verse 7. The of- 
fice of presbyter is described as next to and 
highest after the apostles (Acts 15: 6, 22). Simi- 
larly, the elders are represented as those to 
whom alone the rule, the teaching, and the care 
of the church is entrusted (1 Tim. 5: 17; 1 Pet. 
5: 1, etc.). ... In several passages of the New 
Testament and of Clement we read of many 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 247 

bishops in one and the same church. In the 
face of such indubitable evidence, it is difficult to 
account for the pertinacity with which Romish 
and Anglican theologians insist that these two 
offices h^d from the first been different in name 
and functions. . . . Even Jerome, Augustine, 
Urban II, and Petrus Lombardes admit that 
originally the two had been identical. It was 
reserved for the Council of Trent to convert 
this truth into a heresy."— Ibid., pages 67, 68. 

'^The church was in the beginning a com- 
munity of brethren, guided by a few of the 
brethren.'' ^'AU Christians were priests of the 
living God, with humble pastors as their 
guides."— D'Aubigne's History of the Refor- 
mation, vol. I, pages 35, 50. 

To the above we heartily say, Amen. Bishop 
and elder were the same till the mystery of in- 
iquity began to work. The traveling preachers 
were bishops. ^'For it is written in the book 
of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and 
let no man dwell therein: and his bishopric let 
another take. ' ' Acts 1 : 20. Bishopric is the 
office of a bishop. Judas, then, was a bishop, 
but by transgression he fell. So Matthias was 
chosen to take his bishopric— his office of bishop. 



248 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

This proves beyond question that all the twelve 
were properly called bishops. This included 
Peter and John, who also were called elders 
(1 Pet. 5 : 1 ; 2 John 1 ; 3 John 1) . So the terms 
^^ bishop" and ^/ elder" are used interchange- 
ably, and apply to all the traveling ministers. 
All the local preachers were bishops. '^Paul 
and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, 
to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at 
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." Phil. 
1 : 1. Thus when Paul wrote to the church at 
Philippi, he addressed all the saints, ^'with the 
bishops and deacons." He did not say with 
bishops, elders, and deacons; but recognized 
only two classes of officers— bishops and dea- 
cons. A plurality of elders were ordained in 
' ' every church ' ' (Acts 14 : 23) . Therefore Paul 
terms these elders, bishops. Bishop and elder, 
then, are the same in Scripture. There were 
but two classes of officers in the church at 
Philippi: bishops— the ministers of the word of 
truth, and overseers of the flock; and deacons - 
the ministers of the temporal affairs of the 
church. Anything more than this is apostasy. 
Oq this text Adam Clark remarks: ^^ Bishops 
—the overseers of the church of God, and those 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 249 

who ministered to the poor and preached occa- 
sionally. There has been a great deal of paper 
wasted in the inquiry, ^Who are meant by bish- 
ops here? as no place could have more than one 
bishop. ' . . . This is the extravagance of trifle. 
I believe no such ofBcer is meant as we now term 
bishop." This is clear. Adam Clark readily 
admits that New- Testament bishops were only 
overseers— common preachers. He further 
states that it is ^^a waste of paper" to try to 
prove that only one bishop can be in an assem- 
bly. It is ^Hhe extravagance of trifle." He 
understood that the modern office of bishop was 
unknown in the apostolic church. These are 
his words: ^^I believe no such officer is meant 
as we now term bishop." Amen. 

The very language of Tit. 1 : 4-7 proves that 
elders and bishops were the same. ^^To Titus, 
mine own son after the common faith: Grace, 
mercy, and peace, from God the Father aud the 
Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. For tliis cause 
left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest sot in 
order the things that are wanting, and ordain 
elders in every city, as I had ap])oiuted thee: 
if any 1)0 blameless, the husband of one wife, 
having faithful children not accused of riot or 



250 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

uninily. For a bishop must be blameless, as 
the steward of God: not self-willed, not soon 
angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given 
to filthy lucre. ' ' Language could not be plainer. 
Paul left Titus in Crete to ordain elders in 
every city. He says, ^'If any be blameless," 
*^for a bishop must be blameless." When Paul 
sent to Ephesus. he did not call the bishop and 
his presbytery, but simply called ''the elders 
of the church ' ' (Acts 20 : 17 ) . All the ministers 
in that assembly were simply elders, made over- 
seers by the Holy Ghost (Acts 20: 28). ^Tien 
the apostles set churches in order, they did not 
ordain one bishop, and his presbytery, but sim- 
ply ••'ordained elders in eveiy church" (Acts 
1-i: 23). Paul did not instinict Titus to ordain 
one bishop and a presbyter^" of elders for his 
sanhedrin in every city in Crete, but left him 
to simi^ly ^^ ordain elders in every city." 

At Philippi there was no such thing as a 
single bishop, and a lower class called elders, 
and a still lower class called deacons : but there 
were only two classes of officers— bishops and 
deacons (Phil. l:lK Did the church at Anti- 
och send Paul and Barnabas to Jeiiisalem to 
consult the bishop, the apostles, and the elders 



ITS RISE AND PEOGREiSS. 251 

about circumcision? No ; they simply sent them 
^Ho Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders 
about this question" (Acts 15:2). Nothing is 
said of the bishop. When they reached Jeru- 
salem, '^they were received of the church and 
of the apostles and elders" (verse 4). The 
bishop was left out. Why? They did not have 
such a high officer over them. That church was 
pure from the mystery of iniquity. ^^But," 
says one, ^^ James was a bishop." James was 
an apostle (Gal. 1: 19) ; hence he was no more a 
bishop than was Peter or any other of the apos- 
tles. Who came together to consider the mat- 
ter? The bishop (James), the apostles, and the 
elders? No; it does not read that way. ^^And 
the apostles and elders came together for to 
consider of this matter." Acts 15: 6. No men- 
tion is made of a bishop presiding in this apos- 
tolic assembly. Only apostles and elders are 
mentioned. As before proved, all the apostles 
were bishops, and all the elders were bishops. 
The apostles were the traveling elders or bish- 
ops, while the others were the local elders or 
bishops. Peter and James spoke in this assem- 
bly, as they were looked upon by the church 
as ^^pillars" (Gal. 2:9). But James was only 



252 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

an apostle or elder in the chnrcli at Jerusalem. 
He probably was a senior elder, as is inferred 
from Acts 21 : 18. 

^^But," says one, ^^was not the angel of the 
church at Ephesus, a bishop over the rest?" 
(Rev. 2:1.) No; for had they had an officer 
above the common elders, called the bishop, 
when Paul called them together, as recorded in 
Acts 20 : 17 he would have mentioned the bishop. 
But he simply called ^Hhe elders." They were 
all elders— overseers. No doubt there was, how- 
ever, one who was a senior elder, or one among 
the elders who especially ministered the Word 
and took the special care of the church upon 
himself or herself. There was not a bishop 
above the rest, for they were all on the same 
level-all elders (Acts 20:17, 28). This hum- 
ble equalitj^ of the early ministry lasted but a 
very short time. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 253 

The Great Apostasy Foretold. 

TJie clear morning glory of the church did not 
last long. It was foreseen that a great apostasy 
would come. The early ministers went forth 
with the knowledge that a long dark night of 
superstition, error, and persecution lay before 
them. 

Jesus foretold this reign of deception and 
warned the church. ^^ Beware of false prophets, 
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but in- 
wardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall 
know them by their fruits. ' ' Matt. 7 : 15, 16. 
^^For many shall come in my name, saying, I 
am Christ, and shall deceive many." Matt. 
24 : 5. As you see, this reign of deception was 
not to be merely local but universal. ^^Many 
false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive 
many. And because iniquity shall abound, the 
love of many shall wax cold." Matt. 24: 11, 12. 
^^If it were possible, they shall deceive the very 
elect." Verse 24. 

Paul gave to the church the following warning 
and prediction of this great apostasy: ^^For I 
know this, that after my departing shall griev- 
ous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the 



254 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

flock: also of your own selves shall men arise 
speaking perverse things, to draw away disci- 
ples after them. Therefore watch, and remem- 
ber that by the space of three years I ceased 
not to warn every one night and day with 
tears. ' ' Acts 20 : 29-31. ' ' Now the Spirit speaketh 
expressly, that in the latter days some shall de- 
part from the faith, giving heed to seducing 
spirits, and doctrines of devils ; speaking lies 
in hypocrisy ; having their conscience seared ' 
with a hot iron ; forbidding to marry, and com- 
manding to abstain from meats, which God hath 
created to be received with thanksgiving of them 
which believe and know the truth." 1 Tim. 4: 
1-3. ^'For the time will come when they will 
not endure sound doctrine; but after their own 
lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, 
having itching ears; and they shall turn away 
their ears from the truth, and shall be. turned 
unto fables." 2 Tim. 4: 3, 4. 

Peter foretold this time in the following lan- 
guage: ^'But there were false prophets also 
among the people, even as there shall be false 
teachers among you, who privily shall bring in 
damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that 
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 255 

destruction. And many shall follow their per- 
nicious ways; by reason of whom the way of 
truth shall be evil spoken of. And through cov- 
etousness shall they with feigned words make 
merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a 
long time lingereth not, and their damnation 
slumbereth not/' 2 Pet. 2:1-3. 

The foregoing texts foretell an awful reign 
of darkness and deception to come upon the 
church, a time when false prophets would de- 
ceive many by turning their hearts away from 
the truth. These false teachers would bring in 
damnable heresies, and many would follow their 
pernicious ways; and because iniquity should 
abound, the love of many would wax cold. What 
an awful picture, and yet how true ! The very 
things predicted came to pass. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH. 257 

It Came Early in the Christian Era. 

^^The people of thy holiness have possessed 
it but a little while: our adversaries have trod- 
den down thy sanctuary. ' ' Isa. 63 : 18. The 
^ kittle while" in which God's people were to 
possess true holiness was the early morning 
of the Christian era. Had the church always re- 
tained holiness, there would never have been 
an apostasy. But by descending from this lofty 
plane she opened the way for every species of 
false doctrine and error. The result was that 
the enemies of truth trod down the sanctuary— 
the church. ' ' Beloved, believe not every spirit, 
but try the spirits whether they are of God: 
because many false prophets are gone out into 
the world." 1 John 4: 1. ^^For many deceiv- 
ers are entered into the world, who confess not 
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is 
a deceiver and an antichrist." 2 John 7. '^Lit- 
tle children, it is the last time: and as ye have 
heard that antichrist shall come, even now iwo 
there many antichrists; whereby we know that 
it is the last time. They went out from us, but 
they were not of us; for if they had been ot* us, 
they would no doubt have continued with us: 



258 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

but they went out, that they might be made 
manifest that they were not all of us." 1 John 
2 : 18, 19. ' ' For the mystery of iniquity doth 
already work: only he who now letteth will let, 
until he be taken out of the way." 2 Thess. 
2:7. 

From these texts we clearly learn that the 
way was paved for the reign of Antichrist at 
a very early date. In A. D. 54 ^'the mystery of 
iniquity" was at work. In A. D. 90 John testi- 
fied that already many Antichrists were work- 
ing, that many false teachers had entered the 
world, and that some had gone out from among 
them; namely, separated from the established 
church and gone off into heresy. It is very 
clear that at a very early date true holiness was 
lost sight of and that the way was being laid 
for a dark reign of sin and corruption. Many 
heresies arose one after another, and finally 
these grew into an awful beast-power— ^/le 
papacy. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 259 

The Falling Away. 

The falling away was foretold in the following 
language: ^^Now we beseech you, brethren, by 
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by 
our gathering together unto him, that ye be not 
soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by 
spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, 
as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man 
deceive you by any means: for that day shall 
not come, except there come a falling away first, 
and that man of sin be revealed, the son of per- 
dition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above 
all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so 
that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, 
showing himself that he is God.'' ^^For the 
mystery of iniquity doth already work: only 
he who now letteth will let, until he is taken out 
of the way. " ^ ^ Even him, whose coming is after 
the working of Satan with all power and signs 
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness 
of unrighteousness in them that perish ; because 
they received not the love of the trutli, that 
they might be saved. And for this c^iuse God 
shall send them strong delusion, that tliey should 
believe a lie: that they all might be daumed 



260 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

who believed not the ti'uth, but had pleasure in 
unrighteousness." 2 Thess. 2:1-4, 7, 9-12. 

Some of the Thessalonian brethren, it seems, 
had an idea that the second advent of Christ 
would take place in their day; but the apostle 
disabused their minds of that idea by assuring 
them that before that day there would come a 
falling away. What can this mean but an apos- 
tasy, a retrogration from the pure apostolic 
plane? The apostles saw this thing only a little 
way ahead of them. This falling away is the 
same as that predicted in 1 Tim. 4 : 1-3, where 
it is said, '^Some shall depart from the faith, 
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of 
devils." ""The faith once delivered to the 
saints'' was the pure faith of the gospel. This 
faith taught but one God. but one Lord Jesus 
Christ (Eph. 4:5, 6). At a very early time 
heresies were introduced, teaching a plurality of 
gods in heaven above and that Christ and Je- 
sus were two separate persons. This theory 
was taught by many, and thousands were led 
away into this mythology and were never re- 
claimed. An account of these heresies will be 
found in the writings of Irenaeus. He wrote 
his notable work between A. D. 182 and 189. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 261 

Tlirough the faith of the gospel people received 
full salvation from sin and found grace to live 
free from sin. They entered the holiest and 
were made perfect through sanctification. 
Through faith in the name of Jesus the sick 
were healed of all their diseases, the lame were 
made to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, 
and the dumb to speak; devils were cast out; 
and great power and grace rested upon the en- 
tire church. 

The reader can readily judge what the result 
was when men fell away from that faith; they 
lost all the foregoing blessings from God. So 
it can easily be seen how such a departure and 
falling away brought darkness and superstition 
and all conceivable doctrines of devils into the 
world. The ordinances were corrupted soon 
after the apostles' death. Feet- washing was 
lowered from a church ordinance to a practise 
in the home, to a mere act of hospitality. Bap- 
tism also was corrupted. In case of sickness, 
sprinkling and rubbing were, substituted for im- 
mersion. Oil was sometimes used instead of 
water. At times the candidates were divested of 
all clothing. About Tertiillinn's time triune im- 
mersion took the place of single immersion. 



262 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

The faith of the gospel teaches that there is 
one fold, one body— the body of Christ, which 
is the church; that salvation constitutes us liv- 
ing members of the same; that these members 
have one mind, one doctrine, are all of one heart 
and of one soul : but when men fell away from 
that blessed state of unity, it became necessary 
for them to be identified with some other body, 
to enter some other fold and adhere to con- 
trary doctrines. Thus it was that an apostate 
church was organized in the earth. 

We have already seen the humble equality of 
the apostolic ministry. As the saints began to 
fall away and drift from the primitive faith, 
they lost sight of this humble equality and ex- 
alted man, as seen in Second Thessalonians. 
Paul said that the mystery of iniquity was al- 
ready working. The spirit of it was then seen 
in some. In John's time it was in public mani- 
festation. In the third epistle of John it is evi- 
dent that three elders of the church are spoken 
of; namely. Gains, Demetrius, and Diotrephes. 
The first two he commended. They were 
straight, humble men. But Diotrephes loved 
to have the preeminence among them. He no 
doubt wanted to be a bishop, to be higher than 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 263 

the common presbytery. He did not want to 
receive the apostle John (verse 9). He knew 
that John was against any such exaltation. But 
John comforted Grains by saying, ^'When I 
come, I will remember his deeds." Verse 10. 
Here is the first mention in Scripture of one 
man seeking preeminence above the other elders 
in the local assembly, seeking a position over 
the others. This was A. D. 90. Just as soon, 
however, as we pass beyond the sacred writings, 
in the second century, we find a man exalted 
to a higher office— a bishop over the common 
presbyters or elders. This was apostasy al- 
ready at work. 

I will here quote from the Church Fathers 
to show that in their early day, one man had 
been already exalted above the rest. Instead 
of elders and deacons, as the New Testament 
reads, it was one bishop, elders, and deacons; 
three classes of officers instead of two ; one over 
the rest. 

'^Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run 
together in accordance with the will of your 
bishop, which thing also ye do. For your justly 
renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted 
as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to 



264 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

the harp."— Ignatius to the Ephesians, Chap. 
IV. ^^ Since, then, I have had the privilege of 
seeing yon, through Damas your most worthy 
bishop, and through your worthy presbyters 
Bassus and Apollonius, and through my fel- 
low servant the deacon Sotio.''— Ignatius to the 
Magnesians, Chap. II. ^^ There is but one altar 
for the whole church, and one bishop with the 
presbytery and deacons." — Ignatius to the 
Philadelphians, Chap. IV. ^^Give heed to the 
bishop, and to the presbytery, and deacons." 
— Chap. VII. ^^The bishop, and the presbyters, 
and the deacons. "—Ignatius to Polycarp, Chap. 
VI. 

The above quotations from Ignatius, who 
wrote in the first part of the second century, 
show that at that early date the humble equality 
of the apostolic order was already inverted and 
a third office created, by exalting in each local 
congregation one man as bishop over the com- 
mon elders, or presbyters. How differently the 
above quotations read from the sacred Scrip- 
tures ! At Philippi, Paul addressed the bishops 
and deacons, but Ignatius taught that at the 
time of his writing there was ''one bishop, with 
the presbyters and deacons." When Paul sent 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 265 

to Ephesns and called together the local preach- 
ers, he called the '^elders of the church"; but 
when Ignatius wrote, he would have had to call 
the bishop and the elders. When Paul left 
Titus in Crete, he was to ordain elders in every 
city; but when Ignatius wrote, he would have 
had to ordain ''a bishop and elders." Ah, be- 
loved reader, this is the ' ' mystery of iniquity. ' ' 
It was the first big step toward the man of sin. 
As soon as this third office was created and in 
each assembly one bishop set up over the elders 
and the deacons, the next step was to confer 
great honors upon him ; to exalt him high above 
all others. Ignatius, in the latter part of his 
ministry, was drunk on this spirit. 

I will again quote: ^^As therefore the Lord 
does nothing without the Father, ... so do ye, 
neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman, do 
anything without the bishop."— Ignatius to the 
Magnesians, Chap VII. ^'In like manner, let 
all reverence the deacons as an appointment of 
Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, 
who is the Son of the Father, and the presbyters 
as the sanhedrin of God, and assembly of the 
apostles. Apart from these there is no church. " 
—Ignatius to the Trallians, Chap. III. ^ ^ And do 



266 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

ye also reverence your bishop as Christ himself. 
. . . For what is the bishop but one who beyond 
all others possesses all power and authority, so 
far as it is possible for man to possess it, who 
according to his ability has been made an imi- 
tator of the Christ of God? And what is the 
presbytery but a sacred assembly, the counsel- 
ors and assessors of the bishop?"— Chap. VII. 

^^ Reverence your bishop as Jesus Christ" 
and ^^do nothing without the bishop"— that is 
getting him prettj^ high. But such was the 
spirit then at work. In the early church, the 
presbytery was an assembly of ministers. If 
a number of local preachers assembled, they 
constituted a presbytery ; or a gathering of both 
traveling and local elders, as at Jerusalem 
(Acts 15), was properly termed a presbytery: 
but when Ignatius wrote, they were common 
elders who served as counselors and assessors 
of the bishop. Oh, how changed! Humble 
equality was lost sight of. 

^^Let governors be obedient to Caesar; sol- 
diers, to those that command them; deacons, 
to the presbyters, as to high priests; the pres- 
byters, and deacons, and the rest of the clergy, 
together with all the people, and the soldiers, 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 267 

and the governors, and Caesar himself, to the 
bishop."— Ignatius to the Philadelphians, Chap. 
IV. If this was not making great strides toward 
popery, I can not understand language. The 
bishop was exalted above all ' ' the clergy, ' ' even 
above C^sar himself, and this in the second cen- 
tury. Such was the teaching of Ignatius. Surely 
the great apostasy came early. The people of 
God's holiness possessed it but "a, little while.'' 
Of course the bishop had not, in reality, yet 
reached such a high place, but the people were 
working hard to get him there, and Ignatius' 
writings show that he believed such was his 
place. 

Again we quote: ^^See that ye follow the 
bishop, even as Jesus does the Father, and the 
presbytery as ye would the apostles; and rev- 
erence the deacons, as being the institution of 
God. Let no man do anything connected with 
the church without the bishop. Let that be 
deemed a proper Eucharist which is adminis- 
tered either by the bishop or by one to whom 
he has entrusted it. Wherever the bishop shall 
appear, there let the multitude of the people also 
be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is 
the Catholic church. It is not lawful witliout the 



268 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love- 
feast, but whatever he shall approve of, that is 
also pleasing to God."— Ignatius to the Smyr- 
naeans. Chap. VIII. ^^He who honors the bishop 
has been honored by God ; he who does anything 
without the knowledge of the bishop, does in 
reality serve the devil. ' ' " Nor is there any one 
in the church greater than the bishop." ^^He 
who honors the bishop shall be honored by 
God." ^^Let the laity be subject to the dea- 
cons; the deacons to the presbyters; the pres- 
byters to the bishops."— Chap. IX. '^If he 
reckon himself greater than the bishop, he is 
ruined. But it becomes both men and women 
who marry, to form their union with the ap- 
proval of the bishop."— Ignatius to Polycarp, 
Chap. V. 

Thus we have given a few quotations from the 
early writings to show how soon the humble 
equality of the apostolic government was over- 
thrown and man exalted. This kept working 
more and more. The bishop was lifted up 
higher and higher, until about the third cen- 
tury; then a higher office was created. After 
that date we have a class of officers called arch- 
bishops—bishops over other bishops. Some- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 269 

times one bishop would rule over the bishops 
of a score of churches. This was forming the 
man of sin. In the church of God there is but 
one chief shepherd, one chief bishop— Christ— 
but at this date there was an exalting of man to 
this lofty position. This kept on working and 
fomenting, man being exalted higher and higher 
until finally the pope was elected head of the 
church— so-called. Instead of Christ's work- 
ing all in all, in all the members, man-power 
ruled the church. 

2 Thess. 2 : 3 is rendered in the Emphatic Dia- 
glott as follows : ' ' Let no one delude you by any 
means, because the apostasy must come first, 
and there must be revealed that man of sin, 
that son of destruction." ^^ Falling away" is 
from apostasia. Another form of this word— 
the neuter gender, apostasion—is found in Matt. 
19 : 7 ; Mark 10 : 4 ; and Matt. 5 : 31. H^re it is 
translated ^^divorcement." This form of the 
word— apostasion— signifies the bill of divorce- 
ment, the giving of writing, which effects com- 
plete separation. But apostasia, the word in 2 
Thess. 2: 3, is a feminine use of the word, and 
signifies the real separation or departure ratlior 
than the giving of a bill. Therefore 2 Thess. 



270 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

2 : 3, properly rendered, would read, ' ' The de- 
parture or separation must first come." 

The apostate condition of the church is, in 
Scripture, viewed from different standpoints in 
order to bring out its different phases. That 
part of the divine ecclesia which departed from 
the Lord, fell away from the plain of eternal 
truth, was separated from him. This thought 
I will take up briefly. The church of God is 
represented in Scripture as a bride. The blessed 
union between the Lord and his people is ex- 
pressed by the term ^^ marriage." In Isa. 62: 
1-5 the prophet speaks of the new-testament 
church under the metaphors of ' ' Zion ' ' and ' ' Je- 
rusalem," and says that is she to be termed 
Beulah— married. ^^Thy land shall be mar- 
ried." It was seen that ''as a bridegroom re- 
joiceth over his bride," so God would rejoice 
over his people— a clear prediction of the new- 
testament church. The Gentiles were to help 
compose this bride, and, as a result of this new 
happy union, she was to be called by a ''new 
name." How clear! As soon as the marriage 
takes place, the maiden drops her name and is 
called by a new name, the name of her hus- 
band. So with the church. After this blessed 



ITS RISE AND PEOGEESS. 271 

union, whatever we do in word, thought, or deed, 
we do ^^all in the name of the Lord" (1 Cor. 
3:17). The wife, in order to honor her hus- 
band, must bear his name. To take upon her 
another man's name is to dishonor her husband 
and to make herself an adulteress. Just so with 
the church. In order to honor her husband, she 
must bear his name; to take upon her another 
name is to make herself a spiritual adulteress. 
Millennialists generally contend that a state 
of marriage does not now exist. If that is true, 
then we are bastards and not legitimate chil- 
dren. Thus it has been discovered by these 
preachers that the apostle John was mistaken 
when he said, ^^ Beloved, now are we the sons 
of God." The reader will remember that in a 
former chapter I have treated the different fig- 
ures of marriage used in the Bible, and that in 
one of them God is now a husband and father to 
his people. It will be remembered that the 
church was seen in Eev. 12 : 1 as a woman 
clothed with the sun, and having upon her head 
a crown adorned with twelve stars. How beau- 
tifully was that bride robed in holiness, in the 
garments of salvation. She sat a queen. A 
crown upon her head denoted her royalty. Her 



272 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

husband was the King of heaven and earth, 
King of kings, and Lord of lords. He was 
crowned with glory and honor (Heb. 2:9). But 
he also crowned her with his glory. ' ' The glory 
which thon hast given me I have given them." 
John 17 : 22. Thus the church sat and reigned 
a queen. The time came, however, when thou- 
sands upon thousands among the Christians de- 
parted from the Lord. 

The church at Rome was once a congregation 
of saints. Paul was one of the leading minis- 
ters who were instrumental in establishing and 
planting that assembly. After the death of 
Paul, Linus, who is mentioned in 2 Tim. 4 : 21, 
became bishop, or overseer, of that assembly. 
But in after-years when they began to exalt 
bishops over the elders, and finally one bishop 
over another bishop, the bishop of Rome, be- 
ing located in the imperial city, thought he 
ought to have authority over the other bishops. 
Erelong the bishops of the Western churches 
submitted to that order, and thus the papacy was 
established. You see, these assemblies were 
originally pure churches of God, but they de- 
parted from the simple government of Christ 
and the apostles, and thus became apostate. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 273 

Viewing the condition of affairs during the 
Dark Ages from this standpoint, we behold the 
church at Rome an apostate church. Thus was 
fulfilled the prophecy of Isa. 1:21:^^ How is the 
faithful city become an harlot? It was full of 
judgment; righteousness lodged in it, but now 
murders." The very congregations that were 
once pure churches of God departed, fell away 
from, the faith of the gospel, and out of them 
grew the apostate church— the church of Rome. 
The prophets, viewing this particular phase of 
the apostasy, saw the church turning degen- 
erate. The faithful city, once full of righteous- 
ness, represents the primitive church, in the 
morning glory of this dispensation. She be- 
came a harlot by departing from the Lord ; that 
is, that part of the church which apostatized 
became a harlot, forsook Christ, and thus the 
pope became her husband. She played the har- 
lot and committed fornication. This was the 
great separation expressed by apostasy. She 
departed from Christ her living head, and that 
apostate woman he never acknowledged as his 
wife. 

^^For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and 
burst thy bands; and thou saidst I will not 



274 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

transgress ; when upon every high hill and un- 
der every green tree thou wanderest, playing 
the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, 
wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned 
into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto 
me?" Jer. 2 : 20, 21. While this had its partial 
fulfilment in Israel's departing from God, yet 
it has an application to the church of God, for 
one is a type of the other. '^I planted thee a 
noble vine, wholly a right seed. ' ' Such was the 
pure church of God planted by Christ, her divine 
founder and head; but by falling away she de- 
parted from him, played the harlot, became de- 
generate, a strange vine. ^^ Surely as a wife 
treacherously departeth from her husband, so 
have ye dealt treacherously with me.'' Jer. 
3 : 20. " Thou hast played the harlot with many 
lovers. ' ' Jer. 3:1. '^ Plead with your mother, 
plead ; for she is not my wife, neither am I thy 
husband : let her, therefore, put away her whore- 
doms out of her sight, and her adulteries from 
between her breasts ; . . . For their mother hath 
played the harlot : she that conceived them hath 
done shamefully : for she said, I will go after my 
lovers, that give me my bread and my waterj 
my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink." 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 275 

Hos. 2:2, 5, While these scriptures were ful- 
filled in Judah's and Israel's apostasy, and had 
direct reference to that time, they indirectly 
reached a fulfilment in the apostasy of the 
church, for Israel was a type of the church. Is- 
rael was planted "a noble vine" ; but she treach- 
erously departed from the Lord, went into open 
idolatry, committed adultery with stones and 
stocks. She played the harlot with many lov- 
ers, and the land was greatly polluted. For this 
cause the Lord put her away and gave her a 
bill of divorcement. ^^Thus saith the Lord, 
Where is the bill of your mother's divorce- 
ment, whom I have put away? or which of my 
creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Be- 
hold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, 
and for your transgressions is your mother 
put away. ' ' Isa. 50 : 1. 

In the legal dispensation, when a man put 
away his wife, he gave her a bill of divorce- 
ment. So the Lord uses this language to ex- 
press the condition of Israel when she forsook 
him. He no longer recognized her as his wife, 
or people. This is expressed by divorcement. 
In this dispensation, however, divorcing is not 
recognized. The divorce law was abolished. 



276 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Nevertheless, for one certain cause— fornication 
or adultery— a man may put away his wife— 
separate. Now, just as Israel departed from 
God, the faithful city, Zion, ' ' departed from her 
husband and became a harlot. ' ' She committed 
fornication, became "a great whore." The 
Lord could not acknowledge her in this condi- 
tion as his wife; this is expressed by apostasia 
—separation. Thus we learn what Paul meant 
when he said the falling away— departure, apos- 
tasia, separation — shall first come before the 
end. It came, and Israel's apostasy was a type 
of it. 

The apostate church is brought to view in 
Revelation 17 under the symbol of a corrupt 
woman having a golden cup in her hand, full 
of abominations and filthiness of her fornica- 
tions. She is called ^^ Babylon the great, the 
mother of harlots.'' This corrupt woman is 
not the bride of Christ. There is no communi- 
cation with the living head. She apostatized— 
separated from the truth, played the harlot— 
and at last she will have her portion in the lake 
of fire and brimstone. This is the great apos- 
tasy. 



ITS RISE AND PROORESS. 277 

The Reign of Popery. 

We will again return to 2 Thessalonians 2. 
Simultaneously with the falling away— apos- 
tasy— ^^ that man of sin," "the son of perdi- 
tion," would be revealed; ^^who opposeth and 
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or 
that is worshiped; so that he as God, sitteth in 
the temple of God, showing himself that he is 
God." Verses 3, 4. This man of sin refers 
to the church of Rome, and especially to her 
bishop, or pope. In these every specification 
of the prophecy is fulfilled. The pope was ex- 
alted to be the head of the so-called church. 
In the previous chapters we have traced the 
church from the time of the humble equality of 
her ministers, as seen in the days of the apos- 
tles, to the time when this order was changed 
and a third office was created— a bishop raised 
over the common elders, or overseers— and then 
to the time when archbishops were appointed 
over other bishops. This exalting of man kept 
right on. lifting the archbishop higher and 
higher, until the whole thing ripened into pop- 
ery. 

This exaltation was the work of darkness, 



278 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

and the pope himself, ^^the son of perdition." 
He ^^exalteth himself above all that is called 
God, or that is worshiped." This certainly 
was fulfilled in popery. The pope, it is said, 
claimed power to remit the blasphemy against 
the Holy Ghost— something that neither Christ 
nor the Father claimed to do. The pope was 
exalted above every object of adoration; God 
and Christ were secondary. The pope became 
the source whence emanated every institution 
relative to divine worship, all the doctrines of 
religion, and all rites and ceremonies. He held 
the highest authority and place in the church, 
setting himself up as the universal head of the 
church. He acted as God, taking upon himself 
God's titles and attributes, and arrogating to 
himself the authority that belongs to the Most 
High. The pope claimed infallibility ; power to 
damn and to save. Such titles were conferred 
upon him as ^^ Vicegerent of the Son of God," 
^^Most Holy Pope," etc. 2 Thess. 2:9, 10 de- 
scribes this awful reign of deception and dark- 
ness, which continued over one thousand years. 
Popery was foretold in the prophecy of Dan- 
iel. ' ' Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision 
by night, and, behold, the four winds of the 



1ST RISE AND PROGRESS. 279 

heaven strove upon the great sea. And four 
great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one 
from another. The first was like a lion, and had 
eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof 
were plucked, and it was lifted up from the 
earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a 
man, and a man's heart was given to it. And be- 
hold another beast, a second, like to a bear, 
and it raised up itself on one side, and it had 
three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth 
of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, de- 
vour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, 
another, like a leopard, which had upon the back 
of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also 
four heads ; and dominion was given to it. After 
this I saw in the night visions, and behold a 
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong 
exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth : it de- 
voured and brake in pieces, and stamped the 
residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse 
from all the beasts that were before it; and 
it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, 
behold, there came up among them another lit- 
tle horn, before whom there were three of the 
first horns plucked up by the roots: and, be- 
hold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of 



280 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

maiij and a mouth speaking great things. ' ' Dan. 
7:2-8. 

This vision troubled Daniel, so he asked an 
angel its meaning. The reply was, '^ These 
great beasts, which are four, are four kings, 
which shall arise out of the earth." Verse 17. 
These were the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Gre- 
cian, and Roman kingdoms. The first— the one 
like a lion— represented Babylon. At first the 
lion had eagle's wings, denoting the rapidity 
with which Babylon extended its conquests un- 
der Nebuchadnezzar. After a time the wings 
were plucked, and a man's heart was given to 
it. It no longer flew like an eagle upon its prey. 
The boldness and spirit of the lion was gone ; a 
man's heart, weak, timorous, and faint, had 
taken its place. This was the case during the 
closing years of its history, when it became 
enfeebled and effeminate through wealth and 
luxury. 

The second beast— the one like a bear— rep- 
resented the Medo-Persian kingdom— a king- 
dom composed of two nationalities. The 
beast raised itself on one side. This was ful- 
filled in the Persian division, which came up 
last and attained the higher eminence, for it 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 281 

became the controlling power in the kingdom. 
The three ribs in its month may signify the 
three provinces Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, 
which were especially ground down and op- 
pressed by this power. By the overthrow of 
these provinces, a stimulus was given the Medes 
and Persians to undertake further conquests. 
Thus they said, ^^ Arise, devour much flesh." 

The third beast— the one like a leopard— sig- 
nified the Grecian empire. The four wings upon 
its back, like the two wings of the first beast, 
denote rapidity of conquest. The conquests of 
Grecia under Alexander have no parallel in 
historic annals for suddenness and rapidity. The 
four heads of this beast represent the four di- 
visions into which Grecia was split. The Gre- 
cian empire maintained its unity little longer 
than the life of Alexander. Within fifteen 
years after his brilliant career ended, the king- 
dom was divided among his four leading gen- 
erals. 

Concerning the fourth kingdom, Daniel 
wanted a more explicit explanation. ^^Then T 
would know the truth of the fourth beast, wlilcli 
was diverse from all the others, exceeding dread- 
ful whose teeth were of iron, and liis nails of 



282 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and 
stamped the residue with his feet; and of the 
ten horns that were in his head, and of the other 
which came up, and before whom three fell; 
even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth 
that spake very great things, whose look was 
more stout than his fellows." Dan. 7:19, 20. 
^^Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the 
fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be di- 
verse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the 
whole earth, and shall tread it down and 
break *it in pieces. And the ten horns out of 
the kingdom are ten kings that shall arise : and 
another shall rise after them ; and he shall be di- 
verse from the first, and he shall subdue three 
kings." Dan. 7:23, 24. 

This was Rome. She was the fourth univer- 
sal kingdom which reigned over the world. She 
devoured, broke in pieces, and crushed the na- 
tions with her iron rule. The ten horns are 
ten kings. These were the ten divided kingdoms 
which grew out of the Roman empire. Next 
came up a ^ kittle horn." This was popery. 
Popery grew out of heathen Rome. Three of 
the ten were plucked up by this one. These were 
Heruli, Ostrogoths, and Lombards. 



ITS RISE AND PEOGKESS. 283 

^'And lie shall speak great words against the 
Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the 
Most High, and think to change times and laws : 
and they shall be given into his hand until a 
time and times and the dividing of time. ' ' Dan. 
7 : 25. All this was fulfilled under the reign 
of popery. Speaking words against the Most 
High was fulfilled in the great assumptions of 
the pope. Wearing out the saints was fulfilled 
in the long period of martyrdom, when millions 
were slaughtered because they would not ac- 
cept the doctrines of the papacy. Changing 
times and laws had a fulfilment when the papists 
discarded the LXX, the old apostolic Bible, and 
substituted in its stead the Hebrew version. The 
original Septuagint Bible makes the world al- 
most two thousand years older than does the 
modern version. 

This horn— power— grew out of paganism. 
Though clothed in a Christian garb, it was the 
same persecuting power. Where heathen Eome 
slaughtered her thousands, Christian (?) Rome 
slaughtered her millions. The reign of this 
power is limited to ''a time and times and the 
dividing of time." This is the exact time the 
woman was to continue in the ^vilderness (llev. 



284 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

12:14). Tliese must be the same. This time- 
prophecy will be considered in a later chapter. 

^'And the dragon was wroth with the woman, 
and went to make war with the remnant of her 
seed, which keep the commandments of God, 
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. ' ' Rev. 
12 : 17. The dragon, being conquered, cast down, 
and bound by Christianity, was wroth at the 
woman, or church. Hence he made war with 
the remnant of her seed. But this he could 
not do himself, for his power was broken. He 
accomplished his purpose, however, through his 
son ^Hhe beast." A son was born unto this 
dragon, and he was called ^^the beast." Through 
this beast, war was made against the remnant 
of the seed of the woman— the few who stood 
true to God during the Dark Ages. 

^^And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and 
saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven 
heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten 
crowns, and upon his heads the name of blas- 
phemy. And the beast which I saw was like 
unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of 
a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: 
and the dragon gave him his power, and his 
seat, and great authority." Rev. 13:1, 2. It 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 285 

will be seen that the beast resembles his parent, 
the dragon. The dragon had seven heads (12 : 3), 
so had the beast. The dragon had ten horns, so 
had the beast. But there was a difference. The 
dragon had his crowns upon his heads, while 
the beast had his crowns upon his horns. This 
beast is popery. Popery is a child of pagan 
Rome, the dragon. During the reign of the em- 
pire the seven heads, or forms of government, 
were the ruling powers ; hence the crowns were 
upon his heads : but when popery arose, the ten 
kingdoms were the ruling power— the crowns 
were upon his horns. 

This beast is identical with that of Rev. 17: 
3 and the little horn of Daniel 7. This beast 
was ^4ike a leopard." A leopard is a spotted 
animal, a type of sin. This shows that this 
power was very sinful, and such was popery. 
His feet were as the feet of a bear. This sig- 
nifies its crushing power. Its mouth as the 
mouth of a lion, signifies the devouring nature 
of the papacy. But where did popery get her 
power? '^And the dragon gave him his power, 
and his seat, and great authority." The ten 
kingdoms of Rome gave ^^ their power and 
strength unto the beast" (Rev. 17:13). In- 



286 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

stead of popery receiving her power from above, 
she received it from paganism. The seat of 
pagan government— Rome— became the seat of 
papal rule. 

"So he carried me away in the spirit into 
the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a 
scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blas- 
phemy, having seven heads and ten horns." 
Verse 3. The solution of this will be given in 
our exegesis of Rev. 17 : 10, 11. The Roman 
empire had seven heads, or forms of govern- 
ment. The sixth of these was the imperial. This 
was the form of government under the heathen 
Caesars. The time came when the hordes of 
savages from the North swept over the empire 
and overthrew the imperial government (A. D. 
425). It was wounded to death. This lasted 
about fifty-one years, during which time the 
patriciate ruled the empire. After this the im- 
perial power revived in the form of popery. The 
wound was healed. Imperial Rome was the 
same under priestcraft and popery that it was 
under the Caesars. Under the Caesars it was 
clothed in heathen garb; under priestcraft, in 
Christian garb. Thus the beast (poperj^) con- 
stituted the eighth head of Rome and yet was 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 287 

one of the seven. All the world wondered after 
the beast. Popery swayed universal domin- 
ion. 

^^And they worshiped the dragon which gave 
power unto the beast: and they worshiped the 
beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who 
is able to make war with him?" Verse 4. This 
was fulfilled by the continuance of the pagan 
worship in the papal age. The high priest of 
the Roman pagans was called their pontiff. It 
was customary among the pagan Romans to 
deify their great men after their death and to 
make images to them and worship them. So 
also was it customary among the papists to make 
saints of their great men after their death by 
canonizing them, and their saints are the same 
to them as the gods of the pagans were to them. 
Papists pray to their saints, make images to 
them, and bow to them as the pagans did to 
their gods. Papists sprinkle their holy water 
as the pagans sprinkled their holy water. Pa- 
pists advocate celibacy as did the pagans. In 
many other ways Roman Catholics have prac- 
tised the heathen worship. Tlius they have 
caused the people to worship the dragon. 

^^And there was given unto him a moutli 



288 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

speaking great things and blasphemies; and 
power was given unto him to continue forty and 
two months. And he opened his mouth in blas- 
phemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and 
his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. ' ' 
Verses 5, 6. This was fulfilled in popery by the 
blasphemous claims of the pope, who claims va- 
rious prerogatives of God. These we have al- 
ready considered. 

^ ^ And it was given unto him to make war with 
the saints, and to overcome them: and power 
was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, 
and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth 
shall worship him, whose names are not writ- 
ten in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world. ' ' Rev. 13 : 7, 8. This was 
fulfilled in the great persecutions of the Chris- 
tians under the reign of popery. Papal Rome 
glutted herself on the blood that heathen Rome 
only tasted. It is hardly necessary to refer to 
the bloody reign of the Dark Ages, for nearly 
all are well acquainted with the facts. I would 
simply refer the reader to such histories as 
Fox's Book of Martyrs, Christian Heroes and 
Martyrs, Martyr's Mirror, etc. All people wor- 
shiped popery except those whose names were 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 289 

in the book of life. These latter were the ones 
who suffered martyrdom at her crnel hands. 

'^And there was given me a reed like unto a 
rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and 
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and 
them that worship therein. But the court which 
is without the temple leave out, and measure it 
not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the 
holy city shall they tread under foot forty and 
two months. And I will give power unto my 
two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thou- 
sand two hundred and three score days, clothed 
in sackcloth. These are the two olive-trees, 
and the two candlesticks standing before the 
God of the earth." Rev. 11:1-4. This tem- 
ple, as clearly seen in previous chapters, is the 
church of God. Those who worship in this tem- 
ple are God's people. The altar is Christ (Heb. 
13:10). The measuring-reed is the Word of 
God. The holy city also signifies the church. 
Almost the same language is found in Luke 21 : 
24, where the literal city of Jerusalem is meant. 
It is said that ^^ Jerusalem shall be trodden 
down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gen- 
tiles be fulfilled." Here in Rev. 11 : 2 it is said, 
^^And the holy city shall they [the Gentiles] 



290 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

tread under foot forty and two months." The 
former was to have a literal fulfilment ; the lat- 
ter, a spiritual fulfilment. 

Jerusalem was a type of the church. Its 
desolating and treading down by the Gentile 
nations was, and is, a clear type of the great 
apostasy, which has defiled and trodden un- 
der foot the spiritual Jerusalem, the sanctuary 
of God. The time-limit of this downtrodden 
condition of the church is ^^ forty and two 
months. ' ' This is the same period already con- 
sidered in the many time-prophecies that meas- 
ure the reign of popery. During this same 
period God says that his two witnesses shall 
prophesy, clothed in sackcloth. In verse 4 these 
are called the two candlesticks and two olive- 
trees, standing before the God of the earth. This 
gives us the key to the prophecy. Zechariah 
speaks of these in the following words : 

^^And the angel that talked with me came 
again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened 
out of his sleep, and said unto me, What seest 
thou? And I said, I have looked and behold a 
candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the top 
of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven 
pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 291 

top thereof: and two olive-trees by it, one upon 
the right side of the bowl, and the other upon 
the left side thereof. So I answered and spake 
to the angel that talked with me, saying, ^Vhat 
are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked 
with me answered and said unto me, Knowest 
thou not what these be? And I said. No, my 
lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, 
saying. This is the word of the Lord unto Zerub- 
babel, saying. Not by might, nor by power, but 
by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. " " Then 
answered I, and said unto him, What are these 
two olive-trees upon the right side of the can- 
dlestick and upon the left side thereof? And 
I answered again, and said unto him. What be 
these two olive-branches which through the two 
golden pipes empty the golden oil out of them- 
selves? And he answered me and said, Know- 
est thou not what these be? And I said. No, 
my lord. Then said he. These are the two 
anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the 
whole earth." Zech. 4:1-6, 11-14. 

Zechariah was one of the prophets who 
prophesied unto Zerubbabel and the Jews at 
Jerusalem to build the house of God. These 
two olive-trees, he informs us, *^are the two 



292 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the 
whole earth"; and they are interpreted by the 
angel to be the Word of the Lord, by the Spirit 
of the Lord, unto Zerubbabel (verse 6). From 
this we clearly see that these two witnesses, two 
anointed ones, two olive-trees, signify the Word 
and the Spirit of Grod. The Word of God and 
the Spirit of God are the special witnesses of 
•the Lord here on the earth. ^^This gospel of 
the kingdom shall be preached in all the world 
for a witness unto all nations." Matt. 24:14. 
' ' Search the Scriptures . . . they are they which 
testify of me. ' ' John 6 : 39. " The Holy Ghost 
also is a ivitness/' Heb. 10: 15. See also Rom. 
8 : 16 ; 1 John 5 : 6. These are the two proph- 
ets that have been given unto the church as the 
vicars of Christ in the world, and through them 
God has governed the church in all ages. They 
governed victoriously before A. D. 270, which is 
properly termed the morning-light age. 

^^Then came up the beast, with a man at the 
head of it claiming to be the vicar of Christ. 
A contest between the true vicars, the Word and 
the Spirit, and the false vicar, the pope, fol- 
lowed, which continued 1,260 days. These 1,260 
days signify the same 1,260 years of the papal 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 293 

age which lie between 270 and 1530. In this age 
the Word and Spirit of God never surrendered 
their vicarship, but there were always found 
true witnesses of Christ, who were determined 
to be governed by the Word and Spirit of God, 
like the saints in the morning light. These the 
pope was constantly causing to be put to death. 
This is doubtless what is signified by the sack- 
cloth with which these two prophets were 
dressed during that age, sackcloth being an em- 
blem of melancholy, distress, and mourning." 

Turning back to Rev. 13 : 10 we read : ' ' He 
that leadeth into captivity shall go into cap- 
tivity: he that killeth with the sword must be 
killed with the sword. Here is the patience and 
the faith of the saints. ' ' Ah ! the patience and 
faith of the saints during that long, bloody night 
of papal darkness, was that the verj^ beast- 
power which was leading them into captivity 
and killing them with the sword would some- 
time itself go into captivity and suffer death 
from the sword. Thank God, their prayers were 
answered and their hopes realized. In the six- 
teenth century, God began to raise up reform- 
ers, such as Huss, Melnnchthou, and Tjuthcr, 
who hurled the awful thunderbolts of heaven 



294 THE CHRISTIAN CHTJRCH: 

against the beast-power of popery. Tnith, so 
long crushed, began to arise and triumph in the 
earth. The Reformation spread rapidly in ev- 
ery direction. Watch-fires were kindled 
throughout all Germany and almost all Europe. 
Thousands threw off the galling yoke of popery 
and came out into clearer light. God's king- 
dom, which was to conquer every opposing 
power, conquered popery. 

The Reformation spread so rapidly and its 
power became so great that it cast its influ- 
ence upon the rulers of nations, who turned 
Protestant. The very rulers and kings that had 
so long upheld the Catholic sect now turned 
against her and gave their support to Prot- 
estantism. The sword was turned against the 
beast. There were thirty years of bloody war 
in Germany. Finally the papal power was 
broken and the beast sheared of its temj^oral 
power. That beast which had ruled the earth 
for 1,260 long years was left bleeding and 
wounded, and it has been growing weaker ever 
since. Thus the prayers of those millions who 
were slain during its long reign were answered ; 
and the words of God in Rev. 17 : 16 were ful- 
filled, where he says that the very kings and 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 295 

rulers who supported the great harlot ^' shall 
hate her, and shall make her desolate and naked, 
and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. ' ' 

After this John was carried away in the spirit 
^4nto the wilderness" (Rev. 17:3). 

Wliat did John now see? 

^^And there came one of the seven angels 
which had the seven vials, and talked with me, 
saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto 
thee the judgment of the great whore that sit- 
teth upon many waters : with whom the kings of 
the earth have committed fornication, and the 
inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk 
with the wine of her fornication. So he car- 
ried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness : 
and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored 
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven 
heads and ten horns. And the woman was ar- 
rayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked 
with gold and precious stones and pearls, hav- 
ing a golden cup in her hand full of abomina- 
tions and filthiness of her fornication: and upon 
her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, 
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER 
OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF 
THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken 



296 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

with the blood of the saints, and with the blood 
of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, 
I wondered with great admiration." Rev. 17: 
1-6. 

Oh, how changed! What a contrast! Now 
he beholds ' ' a great whore. ' ' Instead of a pure 
woman, that chaste virgin, he now beholds a 
woman '^with whom the kings of the earth have 
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the 
earth have been made drunk with the wine of her 
fornication. ' ' She holds a cup full of the ' ' filthi- 
ness of her fornication." This woman is 
' ' drunken with the blood of the saints, and with 
the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. ' ' No wonder 
John ^ ^wondered with great admiration. ' ' Before 
the apostasy she stood upon the moon— the Word 
of God (12:1); now she sits ^^upon a scarlet 
colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, hav- 
ing seven heads and ten horns." Ah, beloved 
reader, this woman represents the apostate 
church. She is the Catholic church. The beast 
that carried her is imperial Rome under the 
popes and bishops. This is made clear by the 
angel's interpretation of this marvelous vision. 

''And the angel said unto me. Wherefore didst 
thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 297 

the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, 
which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The 
beast that thou sawest was, and is not ; and shall 
ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into 
perdition : and they that dwell on the earth shall 
wonder, whose names were not written in the 
book of life from the foundation of the world, 
when they behold the beast that was, and is not, 
and yet is. And here is the mind which hath 
wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, 
on which the woman sitteth. And there are 
seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and 
the other is not yet come ; and when he cometh, 
he must continue a short space. And the beast 
that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and 
is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And 
the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, 
which have received no kingdom as yet; but 
received power as kings one hour with the beast. 
These have one mind, and shall give their power 
and strength unto the beast. These shall make 
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall over- 
come them: for he is Lord of lords, and King 
of kings : and they that are with him are called, 
and chosen, and faithful. And he saitli unto 
me, The waters which thou sawest, whore the 



298 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and 
nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which 
thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate 
the whore, and shall make her desolate and 
naked, and shall eat her flesh, and bum her with 
fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil 
his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom 
unto the beast, until the words of God shall 
be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest 
is that great city, which reigneth over the kings 
of the earth." Verse 7-18. 

Here is a full explanation of the mystery. 
^^The seven heads are seven mountains, on 
which the woman sitteth." This no doubt re- 
fers to the city of Rome, built upon seven hills 
or mountains. Rome was the seat of both the 
pagan and the papal government. Hence, on 
her, sat this woman and ruled or reigned over 
the kings of the earth. Thus she sat on seven 
mountains. But the seven heads have another 
signification. ' ' And there are seven kings. ' ' 
These refer to the seven supreme forms of gov- 
ernment which the Roman empire had: (1) the 
regal, (2) the dictatorial, (3) the decemviral, 
(4) the consular, (5) the triumvir al, (6) the 
imperial, (7) and the patrician. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 299 

These were the ruling powers of the empire. 
The angel thus informed John : ' ' Five are fallen, 
and one is, and the other is not yet come; and 
when he cometh, he must continue a short 
space. ' ' That is, at the time John received this 
vision, the first five had already fallen. '^One 
is." The form of government ruling the em- 
pire in John's time was the imperial. The rul- 
ers were the heathen Caesars. It was the sixth 
head of Rome. The other ^'not yet come" was 
the patrician, which had not yet developed at 
John's time. It was to continue ^'but a short 
space. ' ' Adam Clark says that the time during 
which the patriciate ruled the empire was limi- 
ted to forty-five years. Some authorities saj^ 
fifty-one years ; others, twenty-six. This was a 
short period compared with the duration of 
several of the preceding forms of government. 
This makes the seven heads of the empire. 

Next the angel interprets the beast upon 
which the woman sat : ' ' And the beast that thou 
sawest was, and is not ; . . . behold tlie beast that 
was, and is not, and yet is." ''And the beast 
that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and 
is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." This 
beast upon which the woman sat is the eighth 



300 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

head of Rome, and yet was one of the seven. 
This beast was popery. Popery was the eighth 
and last head of Rome. It is the same secular 
beast as seen in Rev. 13 : 1-11. ^^But," says one, 
' ' how was it one of the original seven ? ' ' Let us 
see. The sixth head of the empire was the im- 
perial under the heathen Caesars. This imperial 
power was the persecuting power of Rome 
against the early Christians. Imperial Rome 
ruled the world. Thus ' ' it was. ' ' But the time 
came when the hordes of savages from the North 
swept the empire and wounded the imperial 
head to death. The imperial govermnent was 
overthrown. It remained about fifty-one years, 
during which the patriciate ruled the empire. 
Thus ' ' it was not. ' ' But a little later this same 
imperial power revived under a Christian garb. 
The same power that ruled under the Caesars 
in heathen garb, though wounded to death for 
about fifty-one years, revived and ruled under 
the priests and popes in Christian garb. Thus 
this beast ^^was, and is not, and yet is," and 
now constitutes the eighth head of Rome. The 
identical power that ruled under Caesar 
ruled under popery— imperial Rome— first in 
heathen garb, next in Christian garb ; but it was 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 301 

the same persecuting power in Christian garb 
that it had been in heathen garb. 

As early as A. D. 270 the devil manufactured 
an apostate church. This apostate institution 
is what the woman, the great whore, repre- 
sented. When the old persecuting imperial 
power revived, it entered this apostate institu- 
tion and gave it its life under the popes and 
priests. It became the power that ruled this 
apostate church. Thus the woman sat upon this 
scarlet-colored beast. This beast was imperial 
Rome under popes and priests, hence popery. 
This makes clear how the horns of imperial 
Rome, under pagan rule, served as the horns of 
papal Rome. It was the same power clothed in 
a different garb. These ten horns, as already 
seen in this chapter, signify the ten divided 
kingdoms of Rome. These were to ^^give their 
power and strength unto the beast. ' ' Thus they 
became his horns, just as they had served as the 
horns of the dragon. The time was to come when 
these kings would Miate the whore, and should 
make her desolate and naked, and should oat 
her flesh, and burn her with fire. ' This no doubt 
was fulfilled when the very nations that had once 
supported popery and constituted her horns 



302 THE CHEISTIAX CBX^RCH: 

turned against her and sheared her of all tem- 
poral power. Among others, England and Ger- 
many effected this, and became the hoims, or 
powers^ which supported Protestantism. 

This beast ascended "out of the bottomless 
pit," was of hellish origin. Such is the whole 
system of popery. It emanated from hell, and 
** shall go into perdition. * ' This very be^st will 
finally be "cast alive into a lake of fire burn- 
ing with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20). 

"And the woman which thou sawest is that 
great city, which reigneth over the kings of the 
earth." Eev. 17: IS. This is Babylon the 
Great— the Roman Catholic sect. She is the 
great whore. She is guilty of "the blood of 
the saints, and the maityrs of Jesus.'' His- 
toiy states that she glutted herself with the 
blood of nearly fifty million saints. The bride 
of Christ was clothed with the sun: she wore 
the robes of righteousness. But this woman 
"wa-s arrayed in puij'le and scarlet color." This 
apostate woman Christ never acknowledged as 
his bride. 

Daniel foretold the downfall of popeiy in the 
following words : * * But the judgment shall sit, 
and thev shall take awav his dominion, to con- 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 303 

sume and to destroy it unto the end." Dan. 
7 : 26. This judgment began in the Reforma- 
tion of the Sixteenth Century, and today is be- 
ing executed with divine authority. The result 
is that the beast-power is diminishing, and it 
will continue so ^Hill the end." 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 305 

The Dark Ages — Night. 

Compared with the clear morning glory of 
the church, this awful period is well expressed 
by night. The clear light that shone so bril- 
liantly in the apostolic age was eclipsed by the 
darkest superstition and errors that men and 
devils have ever invented. The earth was flooded 
with false doctrines of every kind. Image-wor- 
ship, prayers offered to the Virgin Mary, li- 
centious popes regarded as infallible, prayers of- 
fered for the dead, the Bible chained to the pul- 
pit, martyred saints branded as heretics, and a 
thousand other things of like character were 
rife during that time. 

^^What are termed the Middle Ages com- 
menced with the fifth and terminated with the 
fifteenth century. Of these the first six are de- 
nominated the Dark Ages. But throughout the 
whole period Christianity suffered a long eclipse 
of a thousand years."— Goodrich's Church His- 
tory, page 478. This period was thus foretold 
in prophecy: ^^ Watchman, what of the night?" 
The watchman said, ^^The morning cometli, and 
also the night." Isa. 21:11, 12. As before 
observed, the morning here referred to was the 



J 



306 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

ushering in of the Christian era, the clear, trans- 
plendent light of the gospel and the church of 
God in the beginning of this age. But it was 
foreseen that night would follow the morning. 
^ ^ The morning cometh and also the night. ' ' In 
the natural day night does not follow the dawn 
of morning; but in the day here referred to— 
the gospel day— night was to come immediately 
after the morning. And true to prophecy, ' ' the 
people of God's holiness, possessed it but a lit- 
tle while." The morning glory of the church 
was early eclipsed by the great apostasy, and 
there followed a long dark night of more than 
one thousand years. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 307 

The Length of the Papal Reign Measured by 
Inspiration. 

^'And he shall speak great words against the 
Most High, and shall wear out the saints of 
the Most High, and think to change times and 
laws : and they shall be given into his hand un- 
til a time and times and the dividing of time." 
Dan. 7 : 25. The power here referred to was the 
papacy. The saints were to be given into his 
hand ; that is, that power was to rule over them 
for ^ ^ a time and times and the dividing of time. ' ' 
In Dan. 12 : 7 the same period is allotted to this 
beast-power, which was to scatter the power of 
the holy people *^a time, times, and a half." 
What does a ^Hime" signify? By turning to 
the fourth chapter of Daniel we find an answer. 
Here is given an account of King Nebuchadnez- 
zar's being driven from men and living with the 
beasts of earth. The period of his humiliation 
is called seven times, in verses 23 and 32. That 
was seven years. So a time signifies a year. 
Times would be two years. It can not be less, 
and if more, the numerals would be given, as 
three times, four times, etc. The di\nding of 
time, or a half time, would be one-half of a year. 



308 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

So time, times, and a half equal three and one- 
half j^ears. This equals 42 months, or if re- 
duced to days, counting 30 days to the month, 
according to the Jewish reckoning, 1,260 days. 
In Rev. 12:14 we see the woman— church- 
fleeing from the dragon into a wilderness, 
^^ where she is nourished for a time, and times, 
andhalf a time. "This wilderness signifies the ob- 
scurity into which the true church went, and 
in which she remained during the dark reign of 
the papacy. Thus during the reign of popery 
the woman— church of God— existed in the place 
prepared of God. She was nourished and kept 
alive for a time, times, and half a time ; but dur- 
ing this period she was largely in obscurity, 
symbolized by a wilderness. Here again we have 
the papel reign or supremacy over God's peo- 
ple measured by inspiration. The wilderness 
state of the church is the same period as that in 
Daniel's prophecy— three and one-half times- 
years. This reduced to months equals 42 months, 
or 1,260 days. ^^And the woman fled into the 
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of 
God, that they should feed her there a thou- 
sand two hundred and threescore days." Rev. 
12 : 6. Here again we have the same period— 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 309 

1,260 days— of the beast— popery. It was said 
he should continue ^^ forty and two months" 
(Rev. 13:5). This reduced to days gives us 
lj260. '^And the holy city [church] shall they 
tread under foot forty and two months" (Rev. 
11: 2), or 1,260 days. '^And I will give power 
unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy 
a thousand two hundred and threescore days, 
clothed in sackcloth." Rev. 11:3. Here are 
other texts giving the same period, or measure- 
ment— 1,260 days. This can not refer to nat- 
ural days, for then the period would cover only 
three and one-half years. The language of 
prophecy in Revelation is largely symbolic. 
These, then, must be symbolic days, each day 
for a year. 

Under the law there was a week of seven 
days and a week of seven years. This was 
common among the Jews. In Num. 14:34 
this thought is presented, ^^^fter the number 
of the days in which ye searched the land, 
even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye 
bear your iniquities, even forty years." Again, 
in E?;ek. 4:6: ^^And when thou hast accom- 
plished them, lie again on thy right side, and 
thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Ju- 



310 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

dah forty days : I have appointed thee each day 
for a year." Applying this rule^ the 1,260 days 
in which the church was to remain in the wil- 
derness state equals so many years. 

A careful consideration of all the foregoing 
time-prophecies reveals the fact that the mere 
reign of the papacy from the time of its estab- 
lishment to its overthrow is not the central 
thought, but how long that power would hold 
down God's i^eople and keep the Word and 
Spirit of God in sackcloth. How long the church 
was to continue in a state of apostasy— that is 
the thought. The 1,260 years were to measure 
the time from which the church went into real 
darkness until she came out in the clear light. 
Some have supposed that this period must have 
dated from the time when popery became fully 
established. Such, however, could not be the 
case, although the time-period includes that 
event: for the power of apostasy was greatly 
developed centuries before the final supremacy 
of the pope was established, and it was neces- 
sary to prepare a way for their exaltation. 
Popes obtained their authority by degrees. In 
A.D. 606 the Emperor Phocas conferred the title 
Universal Bishop upon the pope of Rome. In 



ITS EISE AND PEOOEESS. 311 

A. D. 756 the pope became a temporal sovereign, 
but the power of papal usurpation did not reach 
the summit until the reign of Hildebrand, who 
succeeded the pope in A. D. 1073 under the title 
of Gregory the Seventh. 

I will give a number of quotations from his- 
tory which clearly locate the time in which the 
church really went into apostasy. Some of these 
are extracts from ' ' The Eevelation Explained, ' ' 
by F. Gr. Smith. ^'The living church retired 
gradually within the lonely sanctuary of a few 
solitary hearts. An external church was substi- 
tuted in its place, and all its forms were declared 
to be of divine appointment. Salvation no longer 
flowing from the Word, which was hencefor- 
ward put out of sight, the priests affirmed that 
it was conveyed by means of the forms they 
themselves invented, that no one could obtain it 
but by these channels. The doctrine of the 
church and the necessity of its visible unity 
which had begun to gain ground in the third 
century favored the pretensions of Eome."— 
D'Aubigne's History of the Eeformation, book 
I, chap. I. 

^'At the end of the third centuiy almost half 
of the inhabitants of the Eoman empire and of 



312 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

several neighboring countries professed the 
faith of Christ. About this time endeavors to 
presence a unity of belief and of church disci- 
pline occasioned numberless disputes among 
those of different opinions and led to the estab- 
lishment of an ecclesiastical tyranny."— Ency- 
clopedia of Religious Emowledge. Concerning 
the Roman diocese the Encyclopedia Brit- 
tanica gives the following: 

^^ Before the termination of the third cen- 
tury the office was held to be of such importance 
that its succession was a matter of interest to 
ecclesiastics living in different see?."— Vol. 
XIX, page 488. 

'^Almost proportionate with the extension of 
Christianity was the decrease in the church of 
vital piety. A philosophising spirit among the 
higher and a wild monkish superstition among 
the lower orders fast took the place in the third 
century of the faith and humility of the first 
Christians. Many of the clergy became veiy 
corrupt and excessively ambitious. In conse- 
quence of this there was an awful defection of 
Christianity."— Marsh's Church History, page 
185. 

"V^e have found it almost necessary to sepa- 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 313 

rate, and indeed widely to distinguish, the 
events of the two first from those of the third 
century, for nearly at this point we are disposed 
to place the first crisis in the internal history of 
the chnrch."— Waddington's Church History. 

^^This season of external prosperity was im- 
proved by the ministers of the church for the 
exertion of new claims, and the assumption of 
powers with which they had not been previously 
invested. At first these claims were modestly 
urged, and gradually allowed; but they laid a 
foundation for the encroachments which were 
afterwards made upon the rights of the whole 
Christian community, and for lofty pretensions 
to the right of supremacy and spiritual domin- 
ion. . . . Several alterations in the form of church 
government appear to have been introduced dur- 
ing the third century. Some degree of pomp 
was thought necessary. . . . An external dignity 
of the ministers of religion was accompanied 
by a still greater change in its discipline. . . . 
Many of the Jewish and pagan proselytes . . . 
languished in the absence of ceremonies which 
were naturally adapted to the taste of the un- 
reflecting multitude, while tlie insolent infidel 
haughtily insisted upon the inanity of a religion 



314 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

which was not manifested by an external sym- 
bol or decoration. In order to accommodate 
Christianity to these prejudices, a number of 
rites were instituted; and while the dignified 
titles of the Jewish priesthood were, through a 
compliance with the prejudices of that people 
conferred upon the Christian teachers, many 
ceremonies were introduced which coincided 
with the genius of paganism. The true Gos- 
pels were taught by sensible images, and many 
of the ceremonies employed in celebrating the 
heathen mysteries were observed in the institu- 
tions of Christ, which soon, in their turn, ob- 
tained the name of mysteries and served as a 
melancholy precedent for future innovations and 
as a foundation for that structure of absurdity 
and superstition which deformed and disgraced 
the church."— Rutter's History of the Church, 
pages 52-56. 

This ^^ season of external prosperity" men- 
tioned by Rutter began with the accession of 
Grallienus to the imperial throne in A. D. 260. 
Up to this time the hand of persecution had 
been raised against the church almost inces- 
santly, and from 260 until the reign of Diocle- 
tian persecution ceased, during this space of al- 



ITS RISE AN© PROGRESS. 315 

most forty years. But this period also marked 
the greatest decline in spiritual things and mar- 
velous development of the hierarchy. Speaking 
of the bishop of Rome in these times, Dowling 
says: '^He far surpassed all his brethren in the 
magnificence and splendor of the church over 
which he presided, in the riches of his revenues 
and possessions, in the number and variety of 
his ministers, in his credit with the people, and 
in his sumptuous and splendid manner of liv- 
ing.''— History of Romanism, page 34. 

Speaking of the period now under consid- 
eration, Eusebius, ^^ father of church history/' 
^^ mentions one Paul, who was at this time bishop 
of Antioch, who lived in luxury and licentious- 
ness, and who was a teacher of erroneous doc- 
trines, and usurped such great authority that 
the people feared to venture to accuse him. In 
the conclusion of the same chapter in which this 
is found, he shows that after a general council 
was held at Antioch, this Paul was exconmiuni- 
cated and robbed of his bishopric by the bishops 
of Rome and Italy. From this it appears that 
they possessed a power and authority still 
greater than that usurped by Paul." The fol- 
lowing are his words: ^^Paul, therefore, liavini;- 



316 THE CKRISTIAN CHUECH: 

thus fallen from the episcopate, together with 
the true faith as already said, Donmus suc- 
ceeded in administration of the church at An- 
tioch. But Paul being unwilling to leave the 
building of the church, an appeal was made to 
the emperor Aurelian, who decided most equit- 
ably on the business, ordering the building to 
be given up to those whom the Christian bish- 
ops of Italy and Eome should write.''— Ec- 
clesiastical History, book VII. chap. 30. The 
Encyclopedia Brittanica says that this council 
at which Paul was excommunicated was held 
'^probably in the year 268," and that ''Paul 
continued in his office until the year 272, when 
the city was taken by the emperor Aurelian, 
who decided in person that the church building 
belonged to the bishop who was in epistolary 
communication with the bishops of Eome and 
Italy. "-Vol. XVUL page 429. 

The above extracts show not only the develop- 
ment of en'or in the church, but also the great 
power already obtained by the hierarchy. Geo. 
Fisher says: ^^The accession of Constantine 
[A. D. 312] found the church so firmly organ- 
ized under the hierarchy that it could not lose 
its identity by being absolutely merged in the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 317 

state."— History of the Christian Church, page 
99. 

^^In the year A. D. 270 Anthony, an Egyptian, 
and founder of the monastic institution, fixed 
his abode in the deserts of Egypt and formed 
monks into organized bodies. Influenced by 
these eminent examples [Anthony, Hilarion, et 
aL] immense multitudes betook themselves to 
the deserts, and innumerable monasteries were 
formed in Egypt, Ethiopia, Lybia, and Syria. 
Some of the Egyptian abbots are spoken of as 
having had five, seven, or even ten thousand 
monks under their personal direction ; and The- 
bias, as well as certain spots in Arabia, are re- 
ported to have been literally crowded with soli- 
taries. Nearly a hundred thousand of all classes, 
it is said, were at one time to be found in Egypt. 
. . . Although the enthusiasm might be at a 
lower ebb in one country than in another, it 
actually affected the church universally, so far 
as the extant materials of ecclesiastical history 
enable us to trace its rise and progress. . . . 
The more rigid and heroic of tlie Christian 
anchorets dispensed with all clothing except a 
rug or a few palm-leaves around the loins. Most 
of them abstained from the use of water for ab- 



318 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

lution; nor did tliey usually wash or change the 
garments they had put on. Thus St. Anthony 
[the founder of this order] bequeathed to Atha- 
nasius a skin in which his sacred person had 
been wrapped for half a century. They also 
allowed their beards and nails to grow, and 
sometimes became so hirsute as to be actually 
mistaken for hyenas or bears.'"— History of 
Romanism, pp. 88, 89. Reader, what was the 
condition of the church in A. D. 270, that the 
introduction of such abominations was possi- 
ble? 

Although many more examples of this might 
be added, I will conclude with two extracts from 
Joseph Milner: 

"'SVe shall, for the present, leave Anthony 
propagating the dispensation, and extending its 
influence not only into the next century, but for 
many ages afterwards, and conclude this view 
of the state of the third centuiy, with express- 
ing our regret that the faith and love of the 
gospel received towards the close of it a dread- 
ful blow from the encroachment of this unchris- 
tian practise."— Cen. Ill, chap. 20. 

^^ Moral, and philosophical, and monastic in- 
structions will not effect for men what is to be 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 319 

expected from evangelical doctrine. And if the 
faith of Christ was so much declined (and its 
decayed state ought to be dated from about the 
year 270), we need not wonder that such sins 
as you see Eusebius hints at without any cir- 
cumstantial details took place in the Christian 
world."— Cen. IV, chap 1. 

I have thus quoted at considerable length to 
show the reader that the real decline of the 
church and its rapid drift into the apostasy took 
place about the middle or during the third cen- 
tury. Taking this century as our starting- 
point, the 1,260 years would reach into the six- 
teenth century somewhere; and when we come 
to consider the statements of history, as Mil- 
ner puts it, it is not hard to place a definite 
date— the year 270 A. D. Measuring forward 
from this date, the 1,260 years brings us to the 
exact date of the first Protestant creed— the 
Augsburg Confession in A. D. 1530. To this 
date we must point both for the end of Rome's 
universal supremacy and for the rise of Prot- 
estantism. True, the work of reformation be- 
gan before this time, but the adopting and tlie 
foimiiig of the Augsburg Confession marks a 
clear dividing-line between the age of Ivomnii 



320 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

ism and the real rise of Protestantism. And 
this is the date and period at which God's peo- 
ple who had been held captive in the darkness 
of the papacy came out into clear light. Thus 
unmistakably inspiration has marked out the 
exact time that God's people were held fast dur- 
ing the dark night of popery. 



ITS RISE AND PKOGRESS. 321 

The Reformation. 

Tlie sixteenth-century work under Martin 
Luther has been pointed to as the date of the 
Reformation ; but it may be well to observe that 
prior to Luther's time the Lord raised up cer- 
tain reformers and that these prepared the way 
for the work that was consummated under 
Luther. Among them was John Wyclif, who 
was born in 1324. He was one of the greatest 
of the reformers before the Reformation. He 
was a man of great learning, and by his writ- 
ings he fearlessly and successfully exposed the 
wicked and unchristian pretensions of popes, 
prelates, and Roman officers and the corruption 
of the Romish church. He was professor of di- 
vinity at Oxford, which university he defended 
against the insolent pretensions of the mendi- 
cant friars. He boldly remonstrated with tlie 
pope. Wyclif rendered to the church the greatest 
service that was possible in the order of instru- 
mentality. Besides restoring the true doctrine 
of justification by faith in the atonement and 
righteousness of Christ, he translated the whole 
Bible into English. By the circulation of the 
Word of God, especially of the New Testament, 



322 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

a permanent foundation was laid for the future 
destruction of Romish idolatiy and supersti- 
tion. The principles of this reformer did not 
perish with the death of their advocate. Though 
his doctrines were condemned in popish coun- 
sel and his books destroyed, his bones dug up and 
burned to ashes, yet he had kindled a flame that 
continued to grow brighter and brighter until it 
became the blazing light of the Sixteenth Cen- 
tury Reformatiou. 

Among the other reformers who preceded 
the Reformation was John Huss. He was con- 
verted by reading the writings of Wyclif . Huss 
raised his voice in Bohemia a hundred years 
before Luther offered to speak in Saxony. He 
seemed to have been able to penetrate deep into 
the real essence of Christian truth. The flames 
which rose from his funeral pile kindled a fire 
that spread through dense darkness a distinct 
light, the glimmerings of which were not read- 
ily extinguished. From his dungeon he sent 
forth to the world words of pathetic import. He 
foresaw the needs of the Reformation. Among 
the prophetic declarations of Huss are the fol- 
lowing: '^The wicked have begun by preparing 
a treacherous snare for a goose; but if even 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 323 

the goose, which is only a domestic bird, a peace- 
able creature, and whose flight is not very far 
in the air, has nevertheless broken into their 
toils, other birds soaring more boldly towards 
the sky, will break through them with still 
greater force. Instead of a feeble goose, the 
truth will send forth eagles and keen-eyed vul- 
tures." This was fulfilled in the Reformation 
a hundred years later. When Huss was brought 
to the stake and the fagots were piled up around 
him, he said to those doing it, ^^You are now 
going to burn a goose [Huss signifying goose 
in the Bohemian language], but in a century 
you will have a swan, whom you can neither 
roast nor boil.'' This surely was fulfilled in 
Martin Luther. 

We might mention many other forerunners 
of the Reformation, but space will not permit. 
These men who preceded the work of Luther 
were only preparing the way for a might)^ over- 
turning of the powers of the papacy, a work 
which was effected in the Sixteenth Century 
Reformation. 

Martin Luther was born at Eisleben on Nov. 
10, 1483. He was educated in the university at 
Erfurt. In 1507 he was ordained a priest; in 



324 THE CHRISTIAN CHTUECH: 

1509 he became a bachelor of theologj^ and com- 
menced lecturing on the Holy Scriptures. Grod 
revealed to this man the glorious truths of jus- 
tification by faith. The Roman church and re- 
ligion was made up largely of works, doing 
penance, etc. But when God revealed to the 
reformer the truth of justification by faith, he 
began to herald the same forth with all the 
powers and energies which Grod gave him. From 
the time he nailed the ninety-nine theses on the 
church door in Wittenberg, Germany, a new 
epoch in the church began. 

Luther had a faithful colaborer by the name 
of Melanchthon. Their works spread rapidly 
over Germany. Thousands upon thousands 
threw away the galling yokes imposed upon 
them by the Catholic church and came out into 
the clear light. 

About the same time that Luther was preach- 
ing the truth revealed to him, Menno Simons 
came out and also began to preach salvation 
from sin. About this time Zwingli began to 
preach the truth of salvation from sin through- 
out Switzerland. Thus the Reformation rapidly 
spread in every direction. 

Among the noted reformers who followed 



ITS RISE AND PROaRESS. 325 

Luther may be named John Calvin. Though 
he held some doctrines which were not Scrip- 
tural, as predestination, yet he effected a great 
work and led thousands out of darkness. Re- 
ligious liberty came as a result of the Reforma- 
tion. The great Babylon of popery was de- 
clared by Luther to be fallen, and there is no 
question but that at his time there was a ful- 
filling of the Scriptures in the calling of God's 
people out of her. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 327 

Protestantism. 

Not only was a great reformation the result 
of preaching the glorious truth of justification 
by faith, but those who came out under this 
teaching began to protest against the supersti- 
tions, the false doctrines, and the evil practises 
of the papacy. This set them in direct opposi- 
tion against the church of Rome, and thus those 
who came out under the reformers were called 
Protestants. 

There is no question but that God was in the 
Reformation and that he raised up such men 
as Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, Menno Sim- 
ons, and Calvin to lead the people of God out 
from under the galling yokes imposed upon 
them by the church of Rome into a blessed 
Christian liberty and enjoyment of the privi- 
leges of the gospel. Though the reformers did 
not have the clear light as it shone in the days 
of primitive Christianity, yet the truth that they 
did preach, coming as it did out of the utter 
darkness that had covered the earth for more 
than one thousand years, was like brilliant rays 
of light from heaven. Thousands upon thou- 
sands rejoiced in that light and ombrac^od it. 



328 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Thus the church of God emerged from the great 
wilderness of obscurity in which she had been 
held fast so long, and songs of deliverance filled 
the hearts of the redeemed. 

This naturally stirred the camp of the Roman 
church into a state of hatred against the re- 
formers and their followers. Persecution at 
once began. Soon after the death of Luther 
there came a great war in Grermany between 
the Protestants and the Catholics. It is known 
in history as the Thirty Tears' War. In the 
beginning of this great conflict it seemed that 
the work of the reformers would be crushed, 
but through the assistance of Gustavus Adol- 
phus, from Sweden, who, with his armies, came 
to the rescue of the Protestants in Germany, 
they eventually gained the victory and secured 
their religious liberty. 

It has become customary to denominate all 
the religious systems that have arisen since the 
Reformation, Protestants ; therefore Protestant- 
ism is properly all the so-called Christian 
churches that discard at least some of the doc- 
trines of their mother, the Roman church. 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 329 

Sect-making. 

The Lutheran reformation was soon followed 
by apostasy. As before stated^ Zwingli at this 
time was effecting a reformation in Switzerland, 
and Calvin also was doing a work. Menno 
Simons came out of popery at this time. Though 
the reformers preached some truth, yet coming- 
out of the darkness of night as they did, they 
understood comparatively little of the clear 
truth taught in the primitive days of Chris- 
tianity. The result was that several sects were 
organized, and this marks the rise of Prot- 
estant sectism. The oldest of these is the Luth- 
eran, whose creed— the Augsburg Confession 
—was formed in A. D. 1530. As before stated, 
this marks the end of the papal reign, as por- 
trayed in prophecy and revelation. 

Turning again to the thirteenth chapter of 
Revelation, we find a description of the rul- 
ing power in Protestantism: ^^And I beheld an- 
other beast coming up out of the earth; and 
he had two horns like a lamb, and lie spake as 
a dragon. And he exercisetli all the ])owoi' of 
the first beast before him, and causeth the eartli 
and them which dwell therein to worship the 



330 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh 
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the 
sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on 
the earth by the means of those miracles which 
he had power to do in the sight of the beast; 
that they should make an image to the beast, 
which had the wound by a sword and did live. 
And he had power to give life unto the image 
of the beast, that the image of the beast should 
both speak, and cause that as many as would not 
worship the image of the beast should be killed. 
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich 
and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in 
their right hand, or in their foreheads : and that 
no man might buy or sell, save he that had the 
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number 
of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that 
hath understanding count the number of the 
beast : for it is the number of man ; and his num- 
ber is Six hundred threescore and six." Rev. 
13 : 11-18. 

This second beast is Protestantism. The sym- 
bolic description of this beast directs us to a 
political and religious power rising at the ex- 
piration of the 1,260 years' reign of the first 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 331 

beast. This one looks more natural than the 
first in that it has but two horns. These are 
England and Germany— the two political pow- 
ers that have always stood in defense of Prot- 
estantism. By these two powers Protestantism 
arose. It is reasonable that if the ten horns 
of the first beast represented ten temporal pow- 
ers that supported it, the two horns of the sec- 
ond beast represented two temporal powers 
which have always supported it. England and 
Germany have done this, and they are two of 
the original ten. His two horns like a lamb sig- 
nify the tolerance and mildness of these nations, 
as well as of Protestantism as a whole. Though 
this beast was lamb-like, yet it spake as a 
dragon. The dragon-power was even traceable 
down through the Protestant age. This two- 
horned beast was to exercise all the power of the 
first beast before him. Popery, as we have seen 
in a previous chapter, exercised a universal 
influence, swayed universal dominion; there- 
fore to exercise the same power of the first 
beast, Protestantism must exercise a univer- 
sal influence. This it has surely done. Prot- 
estantism is tlie universal religion of the so- 
called Christian world, just as popery once was. 



332 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

It may be a question in the mind of some how 
Protestantism, divided in so many different bod- 
ies, can be represented by one beast. The Prot- 
estant sects are all alike in character, from God's 
standpoint of viewing, just as the multitudinous 
forms of heathen worship are represented in the 
twelfth chapter by the single symbol of a 
dragon. 

This second beast was to cause the people to 
worship the first beast. This has been accom- 
plished by Protestantism perpetuating doctrines 
and services of popery. All her creeds are 
tinged more or less with the doctrines and idola- 
tries of Roman Catholicism. Many things— for 
example, the rite of sprinkling, which Rome 
substituted for baptism— have been copied by 
most of the Protestant sects. Infant baptism, 
infant damnation unless baptized, baptism for 
the forgiveness of past sins, confirmation, tak- 
ing members into an exterior institution— these 
and many other things have been copied from 
Rome by Protestants to cause the people to wor- 
ship as the papists worshiped, thus causing 
them to worshii^ the first beast. 

This second beast was to do great wonders, 
even to bring fire down from heaven and by 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 333 

means of this gain the confidence of the peo- 
ple and influence them to make an image to the 
first beast. Many hundreds of these images 
have been made in the Protestant age. Such 
are the Protestant ecclesiastical organizations. 
Every one of these is but an image of the papal 
sect, all being modeled after it. We can under- 
stand this prophecy better if we understand the 
ancient image- worship of the pagans. They 
made images of their gods and bowed to these 
images and worshiped them. The image was 
supposed to resemble the god. This same im- 
age-worship was continued among the Roman 
Catholics, who called their gods saints. Prot- 
estantism continues the same worship in es- 
sence by making images to the papacy and caus- 
ing the people to worship them. This is another 
way in which Protestantism ^^causeth the peo- 
ple to worship the first beast." These sect- 
images of popery are the only gods that many 
people of today really worship. Every sect 
called Protestant, whether great or small, is 
more or less modeled after the organization 
known as the Catholic church; therefore tho\ 
are all properly termed images, or likenesses, 
of that beast. 



334 THE CHBISTIAN CHURCH: 

Many of the Protestant denominations started 
with a spiritual reformation. When the Luth- 
eran reformation started, it was a spiritual 
work. The heavenly fire fell in some places, 
and God honored the work. The same was true 
of Zwingli's work in Switzerland. But when 
the followers of Luther and of Zwingli saw that 
God was specially favoring them, they at once 
organized. The result was two sects, two im- 
ages of the papal beast. As soon as these peo- 
ple made an image, they lost their spiritual 
power, and they are today but formal bubbles 
sailing along on the agitated sea of sect-confus- 
ion. Just so it was with the Wesleyan reform. 
For about fifty years the world shook under the 
labors of Charles and John Wesley. Watch- 
fires were kindled throughout Europe and Amer- 
ica, and torrents of Holy-Spirit fire fell from 
heaven. No other fire comes from heaven. Af- 
ter a great body was thus called out, they be- 
came deceived because God was specially favor- 
ing them, and organized into a sect, or, in other 
words, made an image to the old, or papal, 
beast. As soon as they did this, they lost their 
si)irituality, and today they are a dead, formal 
body. The very doctrine with which Wesley 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 335 

started his reform is today rejected by a large 
number of the Methodist divines. A number 
of years ago B. T. Roberts and several other 
Methodist ministers began to preach holiness, 
and the result was an excommunication. These 
preachers then began to shout, '^We are free! 
We are free ! ' ' But not willing to give up the 
name Methodists, they organized an image that 
they term Free Methodists. These people are 
now as dead spiritually as their mother. Their 
work is accompanied by much noise but little 
power of God. So it has been throughout the 
entire Protestant age. 

The work of Alexander Campbell in preach- 
ing against the evils of sectarianism and divis- 
ion, and in maintaining the necessity of unity 
among all true believers, was a spiritual work, 
and no doubt God blessed in that reformation. 
But soon they organized on the same plane with 
every other sect, and now they are a spiritually 
dead body. Time and again men have received 
some new light and truth, and have started a 
spiritual work. Fire from heaven would fall, 
and God would bless their labors. But not be- 
ing able to discern the body of Christ, which 
only is the church, these people would organ- 



336 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

ize a human system, call it a cliurch, and these 
systems are but images. 

It may be asked how people become deceived 
as a result of this fire which came from heaven, 
or spiritual reformation. I answer as follows: 
Speak to any of the various sects today whose 
work started in a spiritual reformation, and in- 
variably they will point to such reformation as 
an excuse for the existence of their sect. In this 
they are deceived. The various branches of 
Methodism today, which number nearly one 
hundred, will, when interrogated on this subject, 
point back to the work of Wesley and the spir- 
itual reformation of his time as an excuse for 
the existence of their sects. In this they are de- 
ceived. While the work of Wesley was spir- 
itual and fire from heaven fell under his la- 
bors, yet Wesley and his work gave no excuse 
whatever for the modern sects called aft^r his 
name. The same is true of the Lutherans. With 
all their dead formality and lack of spiritual 
godliness and vital salvation, if you speak to 
them about coming out of and forsaking the 
formal institution in which they live and hold 
membership, they will point you back to the 
work and refoiination bv Martin Luther as an 



I 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 337 

excuse for tlie existence of their sect. In this 
they, like the Methodists, are deceived; for the 
work and reformation effected by Lnther is no 
foundation nor cause for the existence of the 
Lutheran sect. 

Not all the sects of Protestantism, however, 
started with a spiritual reformation. Many of 
their founders claimed to be effecting real ref- 
ormation in the earth, whereas these were only 
pretensions. Fire from heaven upon Elijah's 
sacrifice was the attestation of his divine mis- 
sion; the falling of the fire confirmed the fact 
that Elijah was God's prophet. Many of the 
sects of today will point to some fanatical move- 
ment stimulated more by excitement than by 
real Holy-Spirit fire, as an excuse for the ex- 
istence of their institution. Such is true of 
nearly all the modem holiness sects, tongues 
movements, etc. As Bro. F. G. Smith, in his 
work, ^^The Revelation Explained," says: 

^^The pretentious miracles and mighty works 
done in the various movements of our day have 
resulted in the deception of multitudes of peo- 
ple and the creation of new sects. Only a few 
of the Protestant sects of today were preceded 
by a reformation that was truly spiritual and 



338 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

of God, and the salvation-work done among them 
before their lapse into sectarianism, I can not 
attribute to this false prophet. For lack of 
sufficient light, however, they also submit- 
ted to human organizations just as did those 
who were deceived in movements wholly de- 
ceptive and false from the beginning. But in 
that case they did not thereby become false wor- 
shipers, and those of that class who retain their 
spirituality are the ones whom the Lord de- 
nominates his people. When the voice is heard 
calling them out of Babylon, the numerous com- 
municants of Protestantism, its great revivals 
so called, its financial enterprises, its mission- 
ary efforts, its civilizing effects on barbarous 
nations, its social, moral, and intellectual influ- 
ences upon the race— all these mighty works are 
brought forward to prove that the system is of 
God. But in this they deceive themselves, for 
this is not sufficient to show that this beast is a 
true prophet, when on account of the deceptions 
practised God has denominated him a false 
prophet.'^ 

True, the term ^' false prophet'' with refer- 
ence to the beast includes both the religion and 
the institution of Protestantism ; but, in reality, 



ITS RISE AND PROOKESS. 339 

the beast in Revelation 13, which is said to have 
brought fire from heaven, refers more to Prot- 
estantism as a religion than to the sectarian 
institution, for this is clearly referred to as an 
image made to the first beast. So while the 
sects of Protestantism that have been the out- 
growth of spiritual reformations have brought 
Teal fire down from heaven, those that have been 
the outgrowth of man have never done this, but 
have been wild-fire, fanatical movements filled 
with more excitement than spirituality, and, as 
Brother Smith says in his work, have ^^only pre- 
tended to bring fire from heaven. ' ' In both cases, 
people have been deceived, and so they point to 
such spiritual reformations or such seasons of 
excitement and false enthusiasm as an excuse 
for the existence of their various institutions. 
All these systems are but images to popery. 

As soon as these images were formed, the 
next step was to mark their subjects. The poor 
blind Adventists suppose that this mark is keep- 
ing Sunday, but this is folly and ignorance. This 
mark signifies the instilling of the doctrines of 
the various sects into the minds of their ad- 
herents. The members of every sect organiza- 
tion are indelibly marked. You can not become 



340 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

one of them without solemnly agreeing to be- 
lieve the doctrines taught in their disciplines, 
accepting the goveiTiment of their man-made in- 
stitutions, subscribing to the rules of faith that 
originate with the sect. This shows how its 
members worship the beast. The mark in the 
right hand may signify the right hand of fel- 
lowship, which ta.kes them into these institu- 
tions. It is further said '^that no man might 
buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the 
name of the beast, or the number of his name." 
Jesus said to his ministers, ''Freely ye have re- 
ceived, freely give." Paul says that he made the 
gospel of Christ without charge. God's ministers 
received the everlasting gospel which they 
preach, from the Lord. They receive it free. The 
anointing teaches them : they are taught of God. 
Hence they give the gospel out free. But in 
sect-Babylon the ministers make merchandise of 
the gospel and of the people. They traffic : that 
is, buy and sell. What they preach costs them 
considerable. They must take a certain course 
in order to get the theology they are to preach 
to the people. So after they obtain it, they hire 
out and sell it for so much a year. ''They can 
never have enough . . . all look to their own 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 341 

way, every one for his gain from Ms quarter." 
Isa. 56 : 9, 11. Every sect has its perculiar 
mark or doctrine with which to mark its adher- 
ents. Sectarians have erected ^^ preacher fac- 
tories" for the express purpose of marking their 
ministers with their particular marks. For ex- 
ample, a Methodist seminary will never send 
out Lutheran preachers. A Presbyterian semi- 
nary never sends out Baptist preachers who 
preach Baptist doctrine. Ah, they receive an- 
other mark. 

A man must have the doctrines of Babylon 
and belong to one of the various Protestant sects 
or he will not be allowed to preach in their 
houses of worship. A few years ago a brother 
iji the ministrj^ went into a certain town to find 
a place to conduct a series of holiness meet- 
ings. He was directed by a Presbyterian lady 
to their pastor, whom she said was a believer in 
the doctrine of holiness. When the brother 
called on the minister and made known his er- 
rand, the first question asked him was this: 
^^Are you a member of the Presbyterian 
church?" The brother answered in tlie nega- 
tive. He did not have the name of the heast. 
The next question that greeted him was tliis: 



342 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

''Do you believe the Westminster confession of 
faith to be orthodox ? " He answered, " No, sir. ' ' 
He did not have the marl: of the beast. The 
last question asked was : ''Do you belong to any 
of the various orthodox Protestant denomina- 
tions?" The brother said, "No." He did not 
have the uiimher of his name. The answer was, 
' ' You can not have our house. ' ' This exj^lains 
what is meant by not allowing any one to buy 
and sell— preach the gospel— except those who 
have the name, mark, and number of the name 
of the beast. This has a real fulfilment in Prot- 
estantism today. 

There is one more point I will explain here. 
The second beast represents Protestantism as a 
whole, or the religion of Protestantism, while 
the image represents the sectarian institution— 
the sect organizations. The number 666, which 
was to make up the second beast, signifies the 
great multiplicity of sects that make up Prot- 
estantism. Without any reflection whatever 
upon the spiritual reformations during the age 
of Protestantism, and the many revivals that 
were held there in years past, the sect insti- 
tutions themselves were never used of God. God 
simply worked through the humble instrumen- 



i 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 343 

tality of his people who had been led honestly 
into these denominations. The oldest of the 
Protestant sects is the Lutheran. As before 
observed, its creed was formed in 1530. Since 
that time all the other sects of Protestantism, 
numbering nearly one thousand, have arisen. 
At different times men have come out of the 
older institutions and have preached some truth 
that had died out in those older organizations ; 
but, not discerning the body of Christ, which 
only is the church, they have formed their fol- 
lowers into sects— humanly organized bodies 
with human government, human creeds, human 
disciplines. These organizations they have called 
churches. The very foundation of Protestant- 
ism is sectish strife and division. When weighed 
in the balance of God's Word, it is found sadly 
wanting. 

The New Testament teaches one faith, one 
baptism, one body— the church— one fold, one 
heart and soul, one mind, no division. ^^Now I 
beseech you, brethren, by the name of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, 
and that there be no divisions among >'ou ; but 
that ye be perfectly joined together in the same 
mind and in the same judgment. '' 1 Cor. 1:10. Tn 



344 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

the light of this text either the Bible is wrong 
or sectism is wrong. We are forced to one con- 
clusion or the other. It is a fact that in de- 
nominationalism today the members do not all 
speak the same thing. They are not perfectly 
joined together in the same mind and in the 
same judgment. I ask, In what are the various 
denominations united? They claim to be one 
in the essentials, but somewhat divided on the 
non-essentials. But what are the essentials? Is 
baptism one of them? Is it not an essential, 
since Jesus said, ^^He that believeth and is bap- 
tized shall be saved"? Do these men all speak 
the same thing on baptism? Nay verily. As 
to mode, one preacher teaches that sprinkling 
is the only true mode, another that pouring is 
the Scriptural mode, another that triune im- 
mersion is the Biblical action in baptism, while 
still others teach that single immersion only 
is baptism. Many sects teach against baptism 
in any mode or form; and there are those who 
teach that either sprinkling, pouring, or im- 
mersion is baptism. With respect to the design 
of baptism, one minister teaches that in this or- 
dinance sins are washed away, another that it 
is the door into the church, another that through 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS: 345 

baptism the new birth is effected and onr names 
written in heaven, and still others that baptism 
is only for justified believers. Some teach in- 
fant sprinkling, others do not. Thus on this es- 
sential truth, the ministers of sectism and their 
devotees do not fulfil the scripture, ^^All speak 
the same thing." This is true not only of the 
ordinances, but of all other essential New- 
Testament doctrines. Protestants are divided 
on the divinity of Jesus Christ. They are di- 
vided on the work of the Holy Spirit. They 
have various ideas regarding God himself. 
Therefore I repeat that either this text of Scrip- 
ture is wrong or sectism is wrong. 

^^ Behold how good and how pleasant it is for 
brethren to dwell together in unity. ' ' Psa. 133 : 
1. '^And when the day of Pentecost was fully 
come, they were all with one accord in one 
place." Acts 2: 1. ''And when they had prayed, 
the place was shaken where they were assem- 
bled together; and they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God 
with boldness. And the multitude of them that 
believed were of one heart and of one soul: 
neither said any of them that aught of (lir 
things which he possessed was his own ; but they 



346 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

had all things common. And with great power 
gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of 
the Lord Jesns : and great grace was upon them 
all. ' ' Acts 4 : 31-33. ' ' And by the hands of the 
apostles were many signs and wonders wrought 
among the people; (and they were all with one 
accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest 
durst no man join himself to them: but the peo- 
ple magnified them. And believers were the 
more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men 
and women.) insomuch that they brought forth 
the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds 
and couches, that at the least the shadow of 
Peter passing by might overshadow some of 
them. There came also a multitude out of the 
cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick 
folks, and them which were vexed. with unclean 
spirits: and they were healed every one." Acts 
5:12-16. 

This blessed power and unity of apostolic 
days is a complete stranger to Protestants. They 
are scattered in hundreds of sects, adhere to so 
many different faiths, and belong to as many 
separate bodies. In a small town in our land 
a dozen or more steeples will be seen, and on 
Lord's day morning the people will congregate 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 347 

in a dozen different places and profess to wor- 
ship God. Oh, what a picture modern so-called 
Christianity presents to the poor sinner! In 
the early church the children of God in a town 
were found all of one accord in one place. They 
dwelt together in unity. The result was, the 
world believed and the Lord added to the church 
daily such as were being saved. But Prot- 
estantism presents a divided religion, and the 
result is skepticism and infidelity. The fol- 
lowing scriptures describe the condition of Prot- 
estantism : 

^^Now I beseech you brethren, mark them 
which cause divisions and offenses contrary to 
the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid 
them. For they that are such serve not our T^ord 
Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good 
words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of 
the simple.'' Rom. 16: 17, 18. The Lord gath- 
ers his people into one fold, into one body. ' ' Ye 
are called in one body." He reconciles ^^all in 
one body by the cross." That one body is his 
church. And to all such he delivers the one 
faith of the gospel to obser^^e. Wlioii the lioii- 
est people thus saved and gntlierod into one fold 
are persuaded and led by ministors, so (*allod 



348 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

preacliers of the gospel, into other folds and 
other bodies than the body of Christ, and are 
required to subscribe to faiths and creeds writ- 
ten by men, instead of the faith of the gospel, 
this is making or causing division contrary to 
the doctrine of Christ, and we are told to 
avoid such persons. Let me give an illustra- 
tion. 

Suppose that in a town the pure gospel of 
salvation is presented and one hundred people 
are converted to God. Through conversion 
those one hundred souls are joined to the Lord, 
and the same love and spirit that in salvation 
join them to the Lord join them to each other. 
Thus they are made members of the church of 
God and constitute a local assembly of the true 
church. They belong to nothing but Christ. 
They have no faith but the gospel, no creed but 
the Word of God. Their names are wiitten in 
heaven. Their bond of union is the love of 
God. They love each other, and love binds their 
hearts together. The Spirit of God draws them 
together in meeting, and therefore they '^for- 
sake not the assembling of themselves to- 
gether." The Lord calls some to the work of 
elders, others to the work of deacons. After 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 349 

such have proved themselves, they are ordained 
by the imposition of hands to the work to which 
the Lord has called them. This is the church 
of God in its local sense. 

Now suppose that, for want of better light, 
a Methodist minister approaches this congre- 
gation of believers and persuades twenty to join 
his sect, and that a Dunkard, a Quaker, a Bap- 
tist, and a Wesleyan minister do likewise. Now 
instead of meeting in one place, the hundred as- 
semble in five different places of worship. Be- 
fore, one minister could preach to them all ; now, 
it requires five. Before, they had one faith, the 
simple faith of the gospel; now, they have five 
different faiths. They are divided on baptism, its 
designs and its mode; they are divided on the 
Lord's Supper, on feet-washing, on the manner 
of obtaining salvation, and on many other things 
too numerous to mention. Woe be to the pas- 
tors that thus destroy and scatter the sheep 
of God's pasture! These are the very men that 
make division contrary to the doctrine of the 
Bible. Some of them have been traditionizod 
to believe that they are doing God's service, but 
we hope and pray that God will enable them (o 
comprehend his truth and tJiai tliey may re- 



350 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

nounce all such deception and abide in the one 
and only true church of the living God. 

^'But there were false prophets also among 
the people, even as there shall be false teachers 
among you, who privily shall bring in damna- 
ble heresies, even denying the Lord that bought 
them, and bring upon themselves swift destruc- 
tion. And many shall follow their pernicious 
ways; by reason of whom the way of truth 
shall be evil spoken of. And through covet- 
ousness shall they with feigned words make 
merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a 
long time lingereth not, and their damnation 
slumbereth noV 2 Pet. 2:1-3. ^Mnd makest 
men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping 
things, that have no ruler over them I They 
take up all of them with the angle, they catch 
them in their net, and gather them in their drag : 
therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore 
they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense 
unto their drag; because by them their portion 
is fat, and their meat plenteous. Shall they 
therefore empty their net, and not spare con- 
tinually to slay the nations?" Hab. 1:14-17. 
False prophets scatter and divide the people of 
God by leading them into their sects. With 



ITS RISE AND PEOGEESS. 351 

good words and fair speeches they deceive the 
people and make merchandise of them. Multi- 
tudes of cold professors will not endure sound 
doctrine, but heap to themselves these teachers 
who turn away their ears from the truth unto 
fables. The more people these preachers can 
gather into their drag, the more they rejoice, 
^^ supposing gain is godliness." Many of them 
sacrifice to their drag— sect— more than they 
do to their God. Thus they slay the nations. 
Woe unto you sectarian preachers, blind guides, 
hypocrites ! You compass land and sea to make 
one proselyte, and when he is made, he is two- 
fold more the child of hell than when you found 
him. You are the very ones who are making di- 
vision contrary to the doctrine of Christ, and 
we are commanded to avoid you. You oppose 
the truth, not only refusing to obey it your- 
selves, but also hindering those who would. Thus 
you are likened unto whitened sepulchers, which 
appear beautiful outward: within you are full 
of uncleanness, hypocrisies, and iniquity. For 
a pretense you make long prayers; therefore 
you shall receive the greater damnation. The 
pulpits of Protestantism are filled with a hire- 
ling ministiy, a worthless set of preachers, who 



352 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

love greetings in the market and the highest 
seats of honor, who love the praise of men more 
than the praise of God, and who are filled with 
pride and formality. 

Turning again to the eleventh chapter of 
Revelation, we find mention of two prophets— 
the Word and Spirit of God— the true vicars 
of Christ during the Protestant age. '^And 
when they shall have finished their testimony, 
the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless 
pit shall make war against them, and shall over- 
come them, and kill them. And their dead bod- 
ies shall lie in the street of the great city, which 
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where 
also our Lord was crucified. And they of the 
people and kindreds and tongues and nations 
shall see their dead bodies three days and an 
half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be 
put in graves. And they that dwell upon the 
earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, 
and shall send gifts one to another; because 
these t^yo prophets tormented them that dwelt 
on the earth. And after three days and an half 
the Spirit of life from God entered into them, 
and they stood upon their feet; and great fear 
fell upon them which saw them. ' ' Verses 7-11. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 353 

In this prophecy we see that the beast finally 
succeeded in slaying the two prophets that he 
had been fighting for 1,260 years. The first 
part of this prophecy we have already consid- 
ered in the reign of popery. After the 1,260 
years of papacy, they lay dead three days and a 
half. This was fulfilled when those children of 
God who had been standing out clear against 
popery in the papal age united with Protestant- 
ism. Protestantism, as well as Romanism, ac- 
cepts human vicars. Protestants bitterly op- 
pose the government of the church by the Word 
and Spirit of God, and set up human vicars, 
who are their lawmakers and governors. 
Whether the vicar be one individual or a legis- 
lative body, it is a human vicar just the same ; 
and when all God's people throughout the world 
accepted human vicars, the two prophets— the 
Word and Spirit of God— were virtually slain. 

The three days and a half during which they 
were to lie dead signify three and one-half 
centuries, or three hundred and fifty years. The 
term ^ ' day ' ' when applied to the papal age sig- 
nifies a year, and when applied to the Prot- 
estant age it signifies a century. There is rea- 
son for this. The events of each century of the 



354 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Protestant age are naturally divided into sepa- 
rate periods. The divisions of the centuries of 
of the Protestant age are so marked that his- 
torians have adopted them. The following 
quotation from D'Aubigne's History of the Ref- 
ormation, book II, chap. 9, is a fair sample of 
the use historians have made of this figure: ^^It 
has been said that the three last centuries, the 
sixteenth, the seventeenth, and the eighteenth, 
may be conceived as an immense battle of three 
days' duration. We willingly adopt this com- 
parison. The first day was the battle of God; 
the second, the battle of the priest; the third, 
the battle of reason. What will be the fourth? 
In our opinion the confused strife and deadly 
contest of all these powers together is to end 
in the victory of Him to whom triumph be- 
longs. " It is because the centuries of the Prot- 
estant age are thus divided into separate periods 
that God makes use of a day to signify a cen- 
tury. Counting, therefore, a day for a hundred 
years, we see that the three days and a half 
during which the two prophets were to lie dead 
signify three hundred and fifty years. 

During this period the people were to make 
merry because the two prophets did not tor- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 355 

ment them. Ah, the Protestant people have 
been fulfilling this to the letter in their shame- 
ful socials and revelings. Measuring this 350 
years from 1530, the date when the two prophets 
. were slain, we have the year 1880, at which time, 
according to the prophecy, the spirit of life from 
God was to enter into the two prophets. So the 
reader can see that we are now living in the 
age when the Word and the Spirit of God were 
to resume their places as sole governors of the 
church of God. The gathering together of God 's 
people out of sects into the one body, a process 
which has been taking place since 1880, is due to 
the resurrection of the Word and Spirit of God. 
The kingdom of God again triumphs upon earth. 



^ 



THE CHRISTIAN CHiURCH. 357 

The Church of God and Sects Contrasted. 

In this chapter I will briefly contrast the 
church of God and sects. Many of the points 
that I shall consider have already been touched, 
but I wish to present them here in such a man- 
ner as to draw a clear line of distinction and 
contrast between the true church of God and all 
sect institutions. 

First. The church of God was built by Christ, 
whereas all sects have been founded by man. 
^^And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and 
upon this rock I will build my church; and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ' ' Matt. 
16 : 18. Three things stand out prominent in 
this text. First, Christ is the builder, founder, 
and organizer of his church. ^^I will build" 
shows that the church of God is not man-made, 
but is of divine origin. It was prophesied by 
Daniel as a kingdom set up by the God of 
heaven. ^^It is the true tabernacle, which the 
Lord pitched, and not man. ' ' Heb. 8 : 2. All 
sects have been organized by men. The church 
of God is divine; all sects are human. The for- 
mer was built by Christ; the latter, by men. 
Christ built but one churcli. Since sects are 



358 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

separated into multiplied divisions, God is not 
their author; for he is not the author of con- 
fusion, but of peace. The church that Christ 
built he denominates ^^my church." No sect, 
then, is his church, for sects were all built by 
man. Since they are not Christ's, they belong 
to men and the devil; for there is no neutral 
ground. The church that Christ built was to 
stand eternally. ^^The gates of hell shall not 
prevail against it." ^'It shall stand forever." 
Dan. 2 : 44. Since it was to stand forever, it is 
in existence today. The same church that Christ 
built nineteen centuries ago is still standing. In 
it alone we hold membership ; to it alone we be- 
long. Thank God, it will stand while the cycles 
of ages roll. 

Another point of contrast. In A. D. 32 Je- 
sus said, ^^I will build my church." In A. D. 
33 ^^the Lord added to the church daily such 
as should be saved" (Acts 2:47). This proves 
that the church of God was already built. Its 
complete organization dates from Pentecost. 
Since all sects have come into existence since 
A. D. 33, not one of them is the Bible church. 
Of sect-Babylon, the Catholic is the oldest, but 
its organization does not date back farther than 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 359 

the third or fourth century. The Lutheran is 
the oldest sect of Protestantism, but its creed 
was not formed until A. D. 1530. Since that date 
all the other sects of Protestantism have arisen. 
They can not be God's church, for it was cen- 
turies old before they came into existence. It 
is the true; they are false. It is the real; they 
are substitutes. It is the genuine; they are all 
counterfeits. We, as the saints of the Most 
High, discard all the latter and abide in the 
former. We cling to the church of God and re- 
ject all sects. Are we not orthodox in so doing? 
Who can deny it? 

But some will say, ^^The churches [meaning 
sects] are necessary to the government, the or- 
ganization, and the success of the people of 
God.'' If this is true, how does it come that 
in the days of primitive Christianity and for 
centuries before these sects arose, the people 
of God got along so well without them? What 
improvement have modern sects made on the 
government, the organization, or the success of 
Christianity? Let the devotees of sect-Babylon 
answer. *^But," says one, '^tlie church of (Unl 
in the days of the apostles was a perfect or- 
ganization." So it was, and so it is today. We 



360 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

abide in that very chiirch that in the days of 
the apostles had government and was perfectly 
organized; and, thank God, its government or 
its organization has never changed. Then why 
plead for worthless sects? There was no Catho- 
lic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Metho- 
dist, Disciple, Mennonite, Dnnkard, Shaker, 
Quaker, Free-Methodist, Amish, Episcopalian, 
Pentecost Band, Christian Catholic, Gospel 
Worker, Umiversalist, Mormon, Adventist, 
United Brethren, etc., in the days of primitive 
Christianity. All these sects have arisen since. 
Did not the cause of Christ prosper more in the 
earth before their existence than since? 

Second. The church of God is the body of 
Christ; no sect composes this body; therefore 
no sect on earth is the church. ^^His body's 
sake, which is the church.'' Col. 1:24. ''He 
is the head of the body, the church." Verse 
18. ''The church which is his body." Eph. 
1 : 22, 23. These texts are conclusive ; the church 
is Christ's body. This body is composed of all 
the saved. ^'Now ye are the body of Christ, 
and members in particular. ' ' 1 Cor. 12 : 27. 
Since there are other bodies, and these are no 
part of the church; and since the church ex- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 361 

isted centuries before modern sects arose, and 
that chiirch was the body of Christ, it follows 
that the modern sects can not be the true church. 
Third. All Christians belong to the church 
of God. No sect contains all Christians. Reader, 
observe this truth. The church of God includes 
in its membership every saved man and woman 
in heaven and on earth. It is the whole family 
of God (Eph. 3: 15). You can not be a Chris- 
tian and not a member of the church of God. 
Whether you are in a sect or out, if you have sal- 
vation, you are a member of the Bible church. 
Since the church of God includes all Chris- 
tians, it is not a sect ; it is the whole. We, the 
saints of God, through salvation are members 
of the church of God. We belong to no other 
institution. Therefore we are not members of 
any sect, but of the whole, the family entire. 
To become a sect, we should have to organize 
and join another body than the body of Christ. 
What, tlien, is a sect ? Any institution that does 
not include in its membership every saint in 
heaven and on earth. For example, does the 
Methodist denomination include the whole fam- 
ily of God? If so, there are no Christians out- 
side of this particular organization. To admit 



362 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

that there are saved people outside or else- 
where is to admit that that institution is not the 
church of God. Not one sect on earth includes 
all Christians; therefore no sect could be God's 
church. But when goaded and nettled by this 
positive truth, sectarians cry, that all the 
churches (meaning sects) together constitute 
the church of God. If so, then all the sects 
taken together include all the saved in heaven 
and on earth. Do they? They all know bet- 
ter. Thousands and millions in paradise are 
members of the church of God who were never 
members of any sect on earth. More than this, 
there are tens of thousands of saints upon earth 
who do not hold membership in any of the mod- 
ern sects, yet stand complete in Christ and are 
members of his church. And again, if all sects 
taken together. Catholic and Protestant, com- 
pose God's church, where was his church be- 
fore they arose? Ah, God's church existed 
one thousand five hundred years before the first 
Protestant sect was organized. So it is sepa- 
rate from all sects and they form no part of 
it. 

Another thought. God's church will exist 
through all eternity, whereas all sects will cease 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 363 

to exist when time ends. So view the subject 
from whatever standpoint yon may, there is no 
relation between the chnrch of God and modern 
sects. To point men to, and lead them into, 
sects by trying to identify these institutions with 
the Bible church is to make the truth of God 
falsehood and to become guilty of the sin of 
heresy. God help all honest souls to forsake 
all sects and abide in the church of the living 
God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 

^^But," say these people, ^^are you not a sect 
yourselves? Are you not narrow?" No. In 
order to become a sect, we must organize a 
separate institution from the body of Christ. 
Thank God, we renounce all such institutions 
and abide only in Christ. Instead of being nar- 
row and sectish, we are members of the only 
Bible church, the one to winch all Christians 
belong. Therefore the whole family of God are 
our brethren and sisters. We have fellowship 
with all the saved. We simply renounce sects 
and all evil, but recognize the few scattered 
believers who, for want of better light, are 
still held in these fallen institutions. 

Fourth. Christ is the head of hut one body; 
sects comprise many separate bodies; hence 



364 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Christ is not their head. ^'And he is the head 
of the body, the church. ' ' Col. 1 : 18. ^ ^ So we, 
being many, are one body in Christ, and every 
one members one of another. ' ' Rom. 12 : 5. 
' ' There is one body and one Spirit. ' ' Eph. 4 : 4. 
The body is one, or '^one body" (Col. 12:12). 
' ' Baptized into one body. ' ' Verse 13. ' ' Recon- 
ciled in one body. ' ' Eph. 2 : 16. ' ' Called in 
one body. ' ' Col. 3 : 15. The fact that there is 
only one body proves that there is but one 
church. Hence all other bodies are out of 
Christ. Sectism presents almost a thousand 
separate and distinct bodies. We prove our 
loyalty to Grod by abiding only in the one 
body— the church of God— and by rejecting 
all others as antichristian. If the multiplied 
organized bodies of sect-Babylon are right, 
then the Bible is wrong; for if the Bible is 
true, there is but one body, one church in 
Christ, and all others are antichristian. Reader, 
stand by the truth and let sects fall. Flee 
out of the midst of Babylon and deliver every 
man his soul. Christ is the head of but 
one body— his body. No sect, then, has Christ 
for its head. They have only human heads. 
As head of the church, Christ is its law- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 365 

giver. He has given us the law— the New 
Testament— for the perfect government of his 
church. Sects have to revise their laws or dis- 
cipline, whereas the law of the Lord is perfect 
and needs no revision. 

Fifth. Salvation makes us members of the 
church of God^ hut not of any sect. This point 
is worthy of careful consideration. Jesus said, 
^^I am the door. By me if any man enter in, 
he shall be saved." John 10:9. ''And the 
Lord added to the church daily such as should be 
saved." Acts 2: 47. The church and the king- 
dom are the same. Conversion puts us into the 
kingdom (Matt. 18:3); through the new birth 
we enter it (John 3:3-5). The moment a sin- 
ner receives pardon, that moment he becomes a 
member of the church of God. Does conversion 
make one a member of the Baptist, of the 
Methodist, of the Dunkard, or of any other sect? 
It does not. These one must join. Some sects 
claim to be orthodox, among them the Chris- 
tian, the Disciples, and the Catholic. But when 
a sinner repents and gets salvation, that does 
not make him a member of any of the above 
sects. Yet he is a member of the church of 
God. So with all their boastful claims, they are 



366 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

classed with the sects of fallen Babylon. The 
only way to obtain membership in the new-testa- 
ment church is to get salvation ; so all its mem- 
bers are saved. We lose our membership in 
the church of God the moment we commit sin. 
^^He that committeth sin is of the devil." 1 
John 3 : 8. But sects are full of sinners. There 
is no identity whatever between the church that 
Christ built and sect-Babylon. 

Sixth. Christ takes the members into his 
churchy whereas the preacher takes members 
into the sect. ^^But now hath Grod set the mem- 
bers every one in the body as it hath pleased 
him." 1 Cor. 12: 18. ^^The Lord added to the 
church daily." Acts 2:47. ''Who hath deliv- 
ered us from the power of darkness, and hath 
translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. ' ' 
Col. 1 : 13. Inducting into the church of God 
is a work of the Almighty. Men can not take 
you in. They can preach the Word, instruct 
souls in the way of righteousness, but setting 
us in the church is beyond their power. ''God 
sets the members every one of them in the 
body." When a sinner repents and complies 
with all the Bible requirements, the Lord saves 
him and adds him to the church of God. He 



ITS KISE AND PROGEESS. 367 

has not, by virtue of salvation, been added to 
any sect. The preacher takes him into these in- 
stitutions. But their excuse is this: They say 
that the Lord saves and adds to the invisible 
church, while they take members into the visi- 
ble. In this, however, they are mistaken. The 
church of God existed centuries before their 
sects arose. Was it visible or invisible? Was 
the church of God in the days of the apostles 
an invisble institution? No ; it was visible. The 
same is true today. 

So from whatever standpoint we may view 
sectarian institutions in the light of the Bible, 
they are no part of, and have no identity with, 
the pure church of God. Hence there is posi- 
tively no lawful excuse for their existence. 



THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH. 369 

A Cloudy Time. 

The Protestant age is well represented in 
Scripture as a cloudy day. The primitive glory 
was seen as a morning without clouds ; the papal 
age, as a long dark night. The Protestant age 
is far from the transplendent light and glory 
of the apostolic days, and yet it is not so dark 
as the time when popery ruled the religious 
world. The Protestant age presents a mixture 
of truth and error, of light and darkness, of 
salvation and sin. It is not clear day, as in the 
beginning, nor yet dark night, as was the age 
before it. Thus saith the prophet: ^^And it 
shall come to pass in that day, that there shall 
not be light; and bright ones shall withdraw 
themselves: but it shall be one day which is 
known unto Jehovah; not day, and not night." 
Zech. 14 : 6, 7, American Standard Version. 

The day foreseen in the above prophecy is 
the gospel day. First there was to be a clear 
morning, a beautiful sunrise. In that time the 
holy saints, like stars, shone brilliantly in the 
midst of this earth. But it was foreseen that 
these ^^ bright ones" would withdraw them- 
selves. The thousands who were martyred as- 



370 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

cended to paradise; others lost the illmnina- 
tion— holiness— and drifted into apostasy; and 
those who remained true retired into a wilder- 
ness state of obscurity, while a beast-power, un- 
der a great apostate church, came visibly upon 
the field. This was a time of night. Of this pe- 
riod the prophet said, ' ' There shall not be light. ' ' 
Following this period there was to be a time 
when it was ^^not day, and not night." This 
applies to the Protestant era. Ezekiel foretold 
this in the following words: ^^As a shepherd 
seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among 
his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out 
my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places 
where they have been scattered in the cloudy 
and dark day. ' ' Ezek. 34 : 12. The era of Prot- 
estantism is the time during which God's peo- 
ple have been scattered; and this period is 
termed a cloudy day— a mixture of light and 
darkness. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 371 

Downfall of Spiritual Babylon. 

In the Old Testament we read that the Is- 
raelites were carried away captive into literal 
Babylon, and that within its gorgeous palaces 
and impregnable walls they served for seventy 
years. During the time of their captivity Je- 
rusalem and the sanctuary lay waste— a heap 
of ruins. But through the prophets God fore- 
told the awful judgments that he was about to 
pour out upon the city and land of their cap- 
tivity. Jeremiah foretold that the broad walls 
of Babylon would fall, that the city would be 
burned with fire, that the land would be emp- 
tied, and that the entire place would be left in 
perpetual desolations (see Jer. 25:7-13; 50th 
and 51st chapters). God delivered all his peo- 
ple out of all the land of the Chaldees (see 
Jer. 50 : 4, 5, 17-19 ; 51 : 2, 6-10, 45) . He warned 
them to flee out and deliver their souls, for his 
wrath and vengeance would fall upon Bab- 
ylon. 

All this was typical. The literal citj^ of Bab- 
ylon was a type of the apostate church, a type 
of sectism as it exists in this dispensation. As 
we have seen in Rev. 17 : 1-18, the Roman Catho- 



372 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

lie sect is denominated ^^ Mystery, Babylon the 
Great, The Mother of Harlots and Abomina- 
tions of the Earth.'' She is also termed ^Hhe 
great whore." She is a ^^ mother." She has 
a large familj^ of daughters. They also are 
^^ harlots." These harlot daughters are none 
other than the sects which came out of her ; and 
these have produced many children and grand- 
children, yes, and great-grandchildren. All 
these harlot institutions— called churches— are 
of one blood and constitute one great family. 
All are traceable to Rome, their mother. With 
the most tender love to all honest souls still held 
captive in these cages of deception, we declare 
that, in the light of truth, Satan is the father 
of sectism, Rome its mother. It forms no part 
of the pure bride of Christ. As the moth- 
er's name is Babylon, we conclude that this is 
the family name. The multiplicity of human 
sects, from the mother down to the very latest 
daughter born into the family, are Mystery, 
Babylon, ^'that great city which reigneth over 
the kings of the earth" (Rev. 17:5, 18). 

Just as literal Babylon held the Israelities 
captive until God proclaimed his desolating 
judgments upon her, and warned Israel to flee 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 373 

out of her ; so has this great spiritual Babylon 
held under its tyrannical rule and galling yokes 
the true people of God for centuries past. But 
a voice from heaven proclaims her fall. An 
angel having great power is heard crying 
^^ mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon 
the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the 
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul 
spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful 
bird. . . . For her sins have reached unto heaven, 
and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Rev. 
18:1-5). 

It is very evident that the fall referred to 
is a moral one. In the younger days of many 
of the sects they were of better character than 
in after-years. When they came out of Rome, 
their mother, they started with reform ; but soon 
they degenerated and became dead and formal. 
There were times in the past when certain sects 
of Babylon contained many true people of God. 
God worked through these people, great revivals 
were held, and thousands were saved. In those 
days some of the ministers were real humble, 
self-sacrificing men, and God wonderfully used 
them. But oh, how changed! If some such 
men as Luther, Wesley, Fletcher, Dow, Peter 



374 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Cartwright, John Knox, and others of like ex- 
perience were to break into the dead, cold as- 
semblies of modern sectism, they would be ex- 
pelled as fanatics and fined for disturbing the 
peace of the worshipers. The whole city is 
morally fallen. It is cursed with a hireling min- 
istry; an honor-seeking clergy; a proud, lazy, 
worthless, sensual lot of preachers who have a 
form of godliness, but deny God's mighty power 
to save and sanctify, keep and heal; a lot of 
truth-fighters, who despise God's pure saints 
and oppose Bible unity. True, there are ex- 
ceptions, but these are few. And as are the 
leaders, so are the followers. The following ad- 
ditional evidence is from ''The Revelation Ex- 
plained," by F. G. Smith: 

''That this application of the term, 'Bab- 
ylon' is correct, and also that the fallen condi- 
tion ascribed to her is in accordance with the 
facts, I will prove by the following testimonies 
of Protestants themselves. The first is from 
Vision of the Ages ; or. Lectures on the Apoca- 
lypse, by B. W. Johnson, member of the Chris- 
tian sect. 

" ' It is needful to inquire what the term ' ^ Bab- 
ylon" means. It occurs several times in the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 375 

New Testament. Here [in the Apocalypse] it 
is spoken of as ^^that great city," and her fall 
is doomed ^^ because she hath made all nations 
drunk with the wine of her fornication." In 
Rev. 17 : 5, a scarlet harlot is seen sitting upon 
the seven-headed and ten-horned monster, and 
upon her forehead is written, ^^ Mystery, Bab- 
ylon the Grreat. ' ' With this woman the kings of 
the earth are said to have conmiitted fornica- 
tion. In chapter 18 the fall of the great city, 
Babylon is detailed at length, and it is again 
said that all the kings of the earth have com- 
mitted fornication with her. The harlot with 
Babylon stamped on her brow, and the great 
city of fornication styled Babylon, in chapters 
14 and 18 are one and the same existence. 

ic ^ There is an ancient city of Babylon often 
mentioned in the Old Testament, but ages before 
John wrote, it had ceased to be inhabited; the 
only dwellers among its lonely ruins were howl- 
ing beasts and hissing serpents. It has never 
been rebuilt to this day and has passed away 
forever. John refers therefore not to old Bab- 
ylon, but to some power yet unseen (when he 
was upon earth), that should be revealed in due 
time, and of which old Babylon was a symbol. 



376 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Let us notice some of the features of ancient 
Babylon. 

^^ ^1. On that site took place the confusion of 
tongues which divided those who before had 
been of one speech and one family, into various 
tribes and schisms at variance with each other 
and of various tongues. The word ^^ Babylon," 
a memorial of this event, means confusion, and 
is derived from Babel. 

" '2. Old Babylon persecuted the people of 
God and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. 

^ ' ^ 3. It carried the people of God into cap- 
tivity. 

" '4:. It was a mighty, resistless universal em- 
pire. 

" 'The antitype, the spiritual Babylon, must 
correspond. There is a power that exhibits all 
these characteristics. By apostasy from the 
truth it originated the schism which has divided 
the family of God into different sects and par- 
ties which speak a different spiritual language. 
It has carried the church into a long captivity 
by binding upon it the thraldom of superstition. 
It has been a constant persecutor of the saints, 
and has enjoyed an almost universal dominion. 
That power is the woman that sits upon the 



I 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 377 

seven-headed beast . . . the false woman, sym- 
bolical of a false church, the great apostate spir- 
itual dominion of Rome. And we may add, out 
of which have come— directly or indirectly— a?/ 
the religious sects of the present day/ 

^^Dr. Barnes says: ^The word ^^ Babylon" be- 
came the emblem of all that was haughty and 
oppressive, and especially of all that persecuted 
the church of Grod. The word here [Rev. 18 : 4] 
must be used to denote some power that re- 
sembled the ancient and literal Babylon in these 
characteristics. The literal Babylon was no 
more; but the name might be used properly to 
denote a similar power. ' 

^^Wm. Kinkade, in Bible Doctrine, page 249, 
says, ^I think Christ has a true church on earth, 
but its members are scattered among the va- 
rious denominations, and are more or less un- 
der the influence of mystery Babylon and her 
daughters.' 

^^ Alexander Campbell says: 'A reformation 
of popery was attempted in Europe full three 
centuries ago. It ended in a Protestant hierar- 
chy, and swarms of dissenters. Protestantism 
has been reformed into Presliyterianism, that 
into Congregationalism, and that into Bai)tist- 



378 THE CHEISTIAN CHUECH: 

ism, etc., etc. Methodism has attempted to re- 
form all, but has reformed itself into many 
forms of Wesleyanism. All of them retain in 
their bosom— in their ecclesiastical organiza- 
tions, worship, doctrines, and observances— va- 
rious relics of popery. They are at best a ref- 
formation of popery, and only reformations in 
part. The doctrines and traditions of men yet 
impair the power and progress of the gospel in 
their hands.'— On Baptism, p. 15. 

^^ Again, he says: ^The worshiping establish- 
ments now in operation throughout Christen- 
dom, increased and cemented by their respective 
voluminous confessions of faith, and their ec- 
clesiastical constitutions, are not churches of 
Jesus Christ, but the legitimate daughters of 
that mother of harlots, the church of Rome.' 
How any man could possess as much light on 
this subject as did Mr. Campbell, and then build 
a sect himself, is more than I can understand. 

^^ Lorenzo Dow says of the Eomish church: 
^If she be the mother, who are the daughters? 
It must be the corrupt, national, established 
churches that came out of her.'— Dow's Life, 
p. 542. 

^^In the Religious Encyclopedia, Article An- 



ITS RISE AND PROGEESS. 379 

tichrist, we read: 'The writer of the book of 
Eevelation tells ns he heard a voice from heaven 
saying, ^^Come out of her, my people, that ye 
partake not of her sins, and receive not of her 
plagues." If such persons are to be found in 
the ^^ mother of harlots," with much less hesi- 
tation may it be inferred that they are connected 
with her unchaste daughters, those national 
churches which are founded upon what are 
called Protestant principles.' 

^^In the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 
we read: ^An important question, however, says 
Mr. Jones, still remains for inquiry: Is Anti- 
christ confined to the church of Rome? The an- 
swer is readily returned in the affirmative by 
Protestants in general; and happy had it been 
for the world had that been the case. But al- 
though we are fully warranted to consider that 
church as ^^the mother of harlots," the truth 
is that by whatsoever arguments we succeed 
in fixing that odious charge upon her, we shall, 
by parity of reasoning, be obliged to allow other 
national churches to be her unchaste daughters, 
and for this plain reason, among others, because 
in their very constitution and tendency they are 
hostile to the nature of the kingdom of Christ.' 



380 THE CHRISTIAN CHIURCH: 

'^One of Martin Luther's guests remarked 
that the world might continue fifty years, and 
he replied: 'Pray God that it may not exist so 
long; matters would be even worse than they 
have been. There would rise up infinite sects 
and schisms, which are at present hidden in 
men's hearts and nature. No; may the Lord 
come at once, for there is no amendment to be 
expected. ' 

''Mr. Hartly, a learned churchman, has re- 
marked as follows : ' There are many prophecies 
which declare the fall of the ecclesiastical pow- 
ers of the Christian world, and though each 
church seems to flatter itself with the hope of 
being exempted, yet it is very plain that the 
prophetical characters belong to all. They all 
have left the true, pure, simple religion, and 
teach for doctrines the commandments of men. ' 

"Says Mr. Simpson, in Plea for Religion: 
'We Protestants, too, read the declaration of 
the third angel against the worshipers of the 
beast and his image and make ourselves easy 
under the awful denunciation by applying it 
exclusively to the church of Rome ; never dream- 
ing that they are equally applicable not only to 
the English, but to every church establishment 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 381 

in Christendom, which retains any of the marks 
of the beast. For though the Pope and the 
church of Rome is at the head of the grand 
twelve hundred and sixty years' delusion, yet 
all other churches, of whatever denomination, 
whether established or tolerated, which par- 
take of the same spirit, or have instituted doc- 
trines and ceremonies inimical to the pure and 
unadultered gospel of Christ, shall sooner or 
later share in the fate of that immense fabric of 
human ordinances.' 

^^Says Mr. Hopkins: 'There is no reason to 
consider the antichristian spirit and practises 
confined to that which is now called the church 
of Rome. The Protestant churches have mucli 
of Antichrist in them, and are far from being 
wholly reformed from the corruptions and wick- 
edness, in doctrine and practise, in it. Some 
churches may be more pure and may have pro- 
ceeded farther in a reformation than others ; but 
where can the church be found which is thor- 
oughly purged from her abominations? None 
are wholly clear from an antichristian spirit 
and the fruits of it. . . And as the church of Rome 
will have a large share in the cup of indignation 
and wrath which will be poured out, so all the 



382 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

Christian world will have a distinguished por- 
tion of it: as the inhabitants of it are much 
more guilty than others. There is great reason 
to conclude that the world, particularly that 
part of it called Christian and Protestant, will 
yet make greater and more rapid advances in 
all kinds of moral corruption and open wick- 
edness, till it will come to that state in which it 
will be fully ripe and prepared to be cut down 
by the sickle of divine justice and wrath.' 

^'Mr. 0. Scott (Wesleyan Methodist) says: 
' The church is as deeply infected with a desire 
for worldly gain as the world. Most of the de- 
nominations of the present day might be called 
churches of the worlds with more propriety than 
churches of Christ. The churches have so far 
gone from primitive Christianity that they need 
a fresh regeneration— a new kind of religion.' 

^^Said T. DeWitt Talmage: ^I simply state a 
fact when I say that in many places the church 
is surrendering, and the world is conquering. 
.... There is a mighty host in the Christian 
church, positively professing Christianity, who 
do not believe the Bible, out and out and in 
and in. ... Oh ! we have magnificent church ma- 
chinery in this country ; we have sixty thousand 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 383 

American ministers; we have costly mnsic; we 
have great Sunday-schools ; and yet I give you 
the appalling statistics that in the last twenty- 
five years, laying aside last year, the statistics 
of which I have not yet seen— within the last 
twenty-five years the churches of God in this 
country have averaged less than two conversions 
a year each ! There has been an average of four 
or five deaths in the churches. How soon, at 
that rate, will this world be brought to God? We 
gain two ; we lose four. Eternal God ! what will 
this come to?' 

^^ Bishop Roberts said: 'The popular religion 
of this country is not the religion of the New 
Testament. It has some of its features but not 
all. It is lacking in grand fundamental ele- 
ments. It answers many good purposes— re- 
strains, refines, elevates, and gives to society a 
jhigh grade of civilization; but fails to secure 
the great end which Christianity is designed to 
accomplish— the salvation of the soul. It daz- 
zles but to blind, it promises but to deceive; it 
allures by worldly considerations to a heaveii 
of purity, which no worldling can enter ; it gives 
to its votaries, who long to eat of forbidden 
fruit, the assurance of impunity from the threat- 



384 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

ened evils, and leads them on by siren strains 
from the paradise of purity into the broad road 
which ends at last in the blackness of the dark- 
ness of an eternal night of despair!' 

' ' Says the Golden Rule : ' The Protestants are 
outdoing the popes in splendid, extravagant 
folly in church-building. Thousands on thou- 
sands are expended in gay and costly ornaments 
to gratify pride and a wicked ambition, that 
might and should go to redeem the perishing 
millions ! Does the evil, the folly, and the mad- 
ness of these proud, formal, fashionable wor- 
shipers stop here? These splendid monuments 
of popish pride, upon which millions are squan- 
dered in our cities, virtually exclude the poor 
for whom Christ died, and for whom he came 
especially to preach.' 

^'The report of the Michigan Yearly Confer- 
ence, even as long ago as 1851, published in 
the True Wesleyan of November 15, says : ' The 
world, commercial, political, and ecclesiastical, 
are alike, and are together going in the broad 
way that leads to death. Politics, commerce, 
and nominal religion, all connive at sin, re- 
ciprocally aid each other, and unite to crush the 
poor. Falsehood is unblushingly uttered in the 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 385 

forum and in the pulpit; and sins that would 
shock the moral sensibilities of the heathen, go 
unrehuked in all the great denominations of our 
land. These churches are like the Jewish church 
when the Savior exclaimed, '^Woe unto you, 
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." ' 

^^ Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in 
London, says: 'The truly righteous are dimin^ 
ished from the earth, and no man layeth it to 
heart. The professors of religion of the present 
day, in every church, are lovers of the world, 
conformers to the world. Lovers of creature- 
comfort, and aspirers after respectability. They 
are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink 
even from reproach. Apostasy, apostasy, 
APOSTASY, is engraven on the very front of 
every church ; and did they know it, and did they 
feel it, there might be hope ; but alas ! they cry, 
^^We are rich, and increased in goods, and stand 
in need of nothing. ' ' ^ 

''I have by no means exhausted the supply 
of similar testimonies of Protestants now be- 
fore me, but for lack of space I must conclude. 
In the face of these amazing facts can any one 
deny that Protestantism is a part of great Bab- 
ylon and is in a fallen condition? 



386 THE CHEISTIAX CHURCH: 

'' *Tlie mercliant? of the earth are waxed rich 

through the abundance of her delicacies.' A 
certain writer on this text has said: 'TTho take 
the lead in all the extravagancies of the age? 
Church-members. AVho load their tables with 
the richest and choicest viands? Church-mem- 
bers. Who are foremost in extravagance in 
dress, and all costly attire? Church-members. 
TTho are the very personification of pride and 
arrogance? Church-members. TThere shall we 
look for the very highest exhibition of the lux- 
ury, even show, and pride of life, resulting from 
the vanity and sin of the race? Answer. To a 
modern church-assembly on a pleasant Sunday.' 
Though this winter interpreted the text literally, 
yet he spoke a vast amount of truth, as eveiy 
one knows. 

*^ Consider, too. the wickedness carried on ev- 
er;\'where in sect-Babylon unrebuked. with the 
preachers ofttimes in the lead. Shows, festi- 
vals, frolics, grab-bag parties, cake-walk lotter- 
ies, kissing-bees. etc. If the apostle [John] 
were here today and we should infonn him of 
a modem church entertainment where a bared 
female foot, projecting from beneath a curtain, 
was sold to the highest gentleman bidder, who 



ITS RISE AND PROaRESS. 387 

had the privilege of kissing its owner and taking 
her to supper, he would probably answer, ' Have 
I not told you, ^^ Babylon is fallen"?' If his 
attention were called to the fact that the mem- 
bers of a prominent church, in a novel entertain- 
ment, displayed the likeness of a donkey, minus 
the tail, while the members one by one were 
blindfolded, and, amid the uproarous laughter 
of the crowd assembled, were given the detached 
part to see who could place it the nearest where 
it belonged, he would say with double emphasis, 
'Have I not told yoii, '^BABYLON THE 
GREAT IS FALLEN, IS FALLEN, AND IS 
BECOME THE HABITATION OF DEVILS, 
AND THE HOLD OF EVERY FOUL SPIRIT, 
AND A CAGE OF EVERY UNCLEAN AND 
HATEFUL BIRD ''V The ^ abominations ' are 
by no means confined to the mother in the Reve- 
lation, but are also to be found in abundance 
in connection with her harlot daughters." 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 389 



God Calls His People Out. 

Israel was a type of the church. Her cap- 
tivity of seventy years in literal Babylon was 
a striking figure of the captivity of the church 
in spiritual Babylon; that is, in poperj' and 
Protestant sectism. During this time the holy 
city (church) was trodden under foot; was 
covered up under the ecclesiastical rubbish 
of men, just as Jerusalem was a heap of 
ruins and rubbish while the children of Israel 
were in Babylon. But as seen in a previous 
chapter, the children of Israel returned from 
their Babylonish captivity, restored Jerusalem 
and Zion, and built up the house of God again. 
They finally all forsook Babylon. God deliv- 
ered all his people out of the land of the Chal- 
dees. '^In those days, and in that time, saith 
the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they 
and the children of Judali together going and 
weeping: they shall go, and seek the Lord their 
God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their 
faces thitherward, saying, Come, and lot us 
join ourselves to the Lord in n perpetnal cove- 
nant that shall not be forgotten." Jor. 50:4, 



390 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

5. ^^My people, go ye out of the midst of her, 
and deliver ye every man his soul from the 
fierce anger of the Lord." Jer. 51:45. 

Babylon had been a golden cup in the Lord's 
hand in accomplishing his design in bringing 
evil upon Israel because of their iniquities. God 
Almighty himself brought Nebuchadnezzar and 
the Chaldean hosts to Jerusalem, and through 
them he accomplished his will in destroying the 
Jewish polity (2 Chron. 36: 17). God also used 
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, during 
the captivity in fulfilling his will in many ways. 
But the time came when God set forth his hand 
and gathered all the children of Israel back to 
Zion and Jerusalem. The return of Israel 
from their captivity in Babylon to Zion and 
Jerusalem was a precious type of the return 
of the church from their captivity in spir- 
itual sect-Babylon to the new Jerusalem, the 
spiritual Zion, and mount of holiness. Thank 
God! this blessed gathering is now taking 
place. 

^^And an highway shall be there, and a way, 
and it shall be called The way of holiness ; the 
unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be 
for those: the wayfaring men, though fools. 



ITS EISE AND PEOGRESS. 391 

shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, 
nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it 
shall not be found there ; but the redeemed shall 
walk there : and the ransomed of the Lord shall 
return, and come to Zion with songs and ever- 
lasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain 
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
flee away." Isa. 35:8-10. ^^ There shall be 
there a pure way, and it shall be called a holy 
way; and there shall not pass by there any un- 
clean person, neither shall there be there an 
unclean way; but the dispersed shall walk on 
it, and they shall not go astray. And there shall 
be no lion there, neither shall any evil beast go 
up upon it, nor at all be found there; but the 
redeemed and gathered on the Lord's behalf, 
shall walk in it, and shall return, and come to 
Sion with joy, and everlasting joy shall be over 
their head; for on their heads shall be praise 
and exultation, and joy shall take possession of 
them : sorrow and pain, and groaning have fled 
away. ' ' Isa. 35 : 8-10, LXX. On the pure way 
of holiness thousands are today returning to 
Zion— to the same Zion where the early church 
stood. Forsaking the confusion of sect Bab- 
ylon, the redeemed of the Lord are returning 



392 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

to the same standard of unity, purity, and power 
that adorned the apostolic church. 

^^ Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall 
return, and come with singing unto Zion; and 
everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they 
shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and 
mourning shall flee away." Isa. 51:11. '^But 
upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there 
shall be holiness ; and the house of Jacob shall 
possess their possessions." Obadiah 17. ^^Mul- 
titudes, multitudes in the valley of decision : for 
the day of the Lord is near in the valley of de- 
cision. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, 
and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the 
heavens and the earth shall shake : but the Lord 
will be the hope of his people, and the strength 
of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that 
I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my 
holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, 
and there shall no strangers pass through her 
any more." Joel 3:14, 16, 17. These texts 
have a present fulfilment. Under the present 
judgments of truth, multitudes are being 
brought into the valley of decision, where they 
must decide either for or against God. Those 
who decide on the side of truth come to the 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 393 

mount of holiness, the mount of deliverance; 
and in this holy mount the Lord has made a feast 
of fat things, of wines on the lees. 

This gathering of God's people out of sect- 
Babylon back to Zion, into one fold, was fore- 
told by Ezekiel as follows : ' ' Thus saith the 
Lord God, Behold^ I am against the shepherds ; 
and I will require my flock at their hand, and 
cause them to cease from feeding the flock; 
neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any 
more; for I will deliver my flock from their 
mouth, that they may not be meat for them. For 
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will 
both search my sheep, and seek them out. As 
a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that 
he is among his sheep that are scattered; so 
will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them 
out of all places where they have been scat- 
tered in the cloudy and dark day. I will feed 
them in a good pasture, and upon the high 
mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there 
shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pas- 
ture shall they feed upon the mountains of Is- 
rael. I will seek that which was lost, and bring 
again that which was driven away, and will bind 
up that which was broken, and will strengthen 



394 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

that whicli was sick: but I will destroy the fat 
and the strong ; I will feed them with judgment. 
And I will make them and the places round 
about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the 
shower to come down in his season ; there shall 
be showers of blessing. ' ' Ezek. 34 : 10-12, 14, 
16, 26. This very beautifully sets forth the 
^^ present truth." The preachers of Babylon 
have scattered God's flock, but the time has ar- 
rived when the Lord is seeking out his sheep. 
He is gathering them out of all places where 
they have been scattered, and is bringing them 
to their own fold— a good fold. 

^'This know also, that in the last days peril- 
ous times shall come. For men shall be lovers 
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, 
blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthank- 
ful, unholy, wi(thout natural affection, truce- 
breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, 
despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, 
high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lov- 
ers of God ; having a form of godliness, but deny- 
ing the power thereof : from such turn away. ' ' 2 
Tim. 3 : 1-5. This is a perfect picture of fallen 
Babylon today. Sectism is filled with men and 
women who are lovers of pleasure more than 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 395 

lovers of God, people who have only a mere 
form of godliness. What are God's people who 
are yet scattered there commanded to do? What 
saith the Scripture? ^^From such withdraw 
thyself: from such turn away." No honest soul 
can remain there after hearing this solemn com- 
mand. They must forsake the ruins and abide 
in Christ alone. Some precious souls when they 
hear the voice from heaven to come out of 
sectism, refuse to obey, and in consequence they 
go into darkness. 

'^Be ye not unequally yoked together with un- 
believers: for what fellowship hath righteous- 
ness with unrighteousness? and what commun- 
ion hath light with darkness? And what con- 
cord hath Christ with Belial ? or what part hath 
be that believe th with an infidel? And what 
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? 
for ye are the temple of the living God; as 
God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk 
in them ; and I will be their God and they shall 
fje my people. Wherefore come out from among 
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and 
touch not the unclean thing; and T will receive 
you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye 
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 



396 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

xUmighty." 2 Cor. 6:14-18. Every sect in- 
fetitution yokes up believers with unbelievers. 
They try to mix light with darkness. The com- 
iiiand from heaven to every child of God in 
there is, ''Come out from among them, and be 
ye separate, saith the Lord. ' ' 

The ministers of God in these last days are 
''blowing the trumpet in Zion," and the call 
of God is reaching the people of God in secta- 
rian captivity. Jesus says, "My sheep hear 
my voice, and they follow me." Thus God is 
gathering his people into a perfect unity, and 
preparing the bride for the coming of the bride- 
groom. To such as have their hearts wrapped 
up in friends who will not obey the truth, God 
says, "Remember Lot's wife." 

"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and de- 
liver every man his soul: be not cut off in her 
iniquity ; for this is the time of the Lord 's ven- 
geance ; he will render unto her a recompense. ' ' 
Jer. 51: 6. "My people, go ye out of the midst 
of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from 
the fierce anger of the Lord. ' ' Jer. 51 : 45. 
"And the third angel followed them, saying 
with a loud voice. If any man worship the beast 
and his image, and receive his mark in his fore- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 397 

head, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the 
wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out 
without mixture into the cup of his indignation ; 
and he shall be tormented with fire and brim- 
stone in the presence of the holy angels, and 
in the presence of the Lamb : and the smoke of 
their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: 
and they have no rest day nor night, who wor- 
ship the beast and his image, and whosoever 
receiveth the mark of his name." Rev. 14: 
8-11. ^' And I heard another voice from heaven, 
saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be 
not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive 
not of her plagues. For her sins have reached 
unto heaven, and God hath remembered her in- 
iquities. Therefore shall her plagues come in 
one day, death, and mourning, and famine ; and 
she shall be utterly burned with fire : for strong 
is the Lord God who judgeth her." Rev. IS: 
1-5, 8. 

All this is present truth. One angel in these 
texts stands for the entire ministry of the time. 
These flying messengers are God's holy minis- 
ters in these last days, who are trumpeting to 
all nations the solemn warnings from hoaveii. 
This is a time of tlie Lord's vengeance against 



39S THE CKEISTIAX CHUECH: 

all false religions of earth. He has set his 
hand to gather ont his people, and to prepare his 
chnrch, so that she may be presented holy, with- 
out spot or wrinkle, when he comes. This is not 
onr word and work, but a voice from heaven says 
in solemntones of warning. * * Flee ont of the midst 
of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul/' 
**Come ont of her, my people, that ye be not par- 
takers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her 
plagues." '*If any man worship the beast [jk)- 
I>ery] and his image [Protestantism] , the same 
shall be tormented forever and ever." Thou- 
sands have already heard that voice and obeyed. 
Halleluiah I Eveiy child of God will be galiiered 
out before Jesus comes. Thousands of others, 
however, who seeme<i to be pillars, have heard 
that voice but would not obey. The result is, 
Grod has had to sacrifice them in order to get 
a pure church. They chose to cling with the 
niins of Babylon rather than to be identified 
with the holy remnant. All such have received 
of her plagues — ''deuih, mourning, famine.'' 
By not obeying the truth, such lose all spiritual 
life, are cut off from union with God, and help 
to compose the dead carcass of fallen sectism. Be- 
loved friend, this work is of God. To opi)ose 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 399 

it is to throw open your soul to deceptive spir- 
its and to drift into the very state and condi- 
tion above described. 

As before stated, after the children of Is- 
rael forsook literal Babylon, it underwent many 
great wars and ravages and finally became a 
sort of zoological garden, a habitation of all 
kinds of birds and beasts. The following scrip- 
tures describe its condition: ^^And Babylon, the 
glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees ' 
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew 
Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be in- 
habited, neither shall it be dwelt in from gen- 
eration to generation: neither shall the Ara- 
bian pitch tent there; neither shall the shep- 
herds make their fold there. But wild beasts 
of the desert shall lie there; and their houses 
shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall 
dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And 
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their 
desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant 
palaces : and her time is near to come, and her 
days shall not be prolonged. ' ' Isa. 13 : 19-22. 
^^And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling- 
place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hiss- 
ing, without an inhabitant. ' ' Jer. 51 : 37. 



400 THE CHRISTIAN CHHECH: 

All this was a tyj^e. That very condition 
of literal Babylon is the condition of spiritual 
Babylon today, since God is delivering his people 
out of her. Just as that ancient city fell and be- 
came a dwelling-place of dragons, doleful crea- 
tures, etc.; so sect-Babylon "the great is fallen, 
is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, 
and the hold of eveiy foul spirit, and a cage of 
every unclean and hateful bird" (Bev. 18:2). 
Sectarians may consider this strong, but it is 
the eternal truth : and present facts, as seen 
by the pure in heart, prove that the above is a 
perfect picture of the gi'eat babel of sectism. 
All who cling to their false religions and re- 
fuse to forsake their sinful sects are slain and 
cut off by the Word of Grod and compose this 
gi^eat spiritual carcass preyed upon by evil spir- 
its. Thousands who in the past were bright 
lights, when they hear the voice from heaven to 
come out of her, close their ears to the tinith 
and go into darkness. These are cut off and 
slain. Oh. what a slaughter is now going on! 
This awful work has been foretold by the proph- 
ets of old. 

^^For the indignation of the Lord is upon all 
nations, and his fury upon all their aiTnies: he 



ITS EISE AND PEOiGEESS. 401 

hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered 
them to the slaughter. Their slain also 
shall be cast out, and their stink shall come 
up out of their carcasses, and the moun- 
tains shall be melted with their blood." 
Verses 2, 3. ^^For, behold, the Lord will come 
with fire, and with his chariots like a whirl- 
wind, to render his anger with fury, and his 
rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by 
his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh : and 
the slain of the Lord shall be many. ' ' Isa. 66 : 
15, 16. ^^ Cursed be he that doeth the work 
of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that 
keepeth back his sword from blood." Jer. 48: 
10. '^Wherefore thus saith the Lord God of 
hosts. Because ye speak this word, behold, I 
will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this 
people wood, and it shall devour them." Jer. 
5 : 14. '' Many pastors have destroyed my vine- 
yard, they have trodden my portion under foot, 
they have made my pleasant portion a desolate 
wilderness. They have made it desolate, and 
being desolate it mourneth unto me ; the whole 
land is made desolate, because no man layeth it 
to heart. The spoilers are come upon all high 
places through the wilderness: for the sword 



402 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

of the Lord shall devour from the one end of 
the land, even to the other end of the land: no 
flesh shall have peace." Jer. 12:10-12. 

What an awful picture, yet how true! The 
sword of the Lord which smites the nations and 
devours from one end of the land to the other, 
and which is said to be filled with blood, is ' ' the 
sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" 
(Eph. 6: 17). Grod's holy messengers are blow- 
ing the trumpet in Zion, and this calls together 
the elect from the four winds— Babylon con- 
fusion (Joel 2:1; Matt. 24:30-33; Zech. 2:6, 
7). All who refuse to be gathered are slain by 
the sword of the Lord. Those slain are said to 
be ^^many." This great slaughter is also called 
a ^ ^ sacrifice, ' ' because many of them possessed 
noble attributes and were even mighty through 
God; but when the whole truth was presented, 
they would not get saved from the last spot of 
sin and sectism; therefore God had to sacrifice 
them to evil spirits in order to get a pure 
church. The rams, lambs, bullocks, etc., show 
that the parties were, in the main, offerings to 
God on the altar of his grace. The thousands 
thus being slain compose a carcass — a dead 
putrefying mess of fallen religionists. Thus 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 403 

saith the Lord: '^For wheresoever the carcass 
is, there will the eagles be gathered together." 
Matt. 24:28. 

This no doubt reached a fulfilment at the de- 
struction of Jerusalem. The Jews composed 
the carcass; the Roman hosts, the eagles that 
gathered together to consume the carcass. This 
looks very probable, since the eagles were the 
very standards of the army which did desolate 
the city. But it is clear to our mind that the 
text has a twofold signification, and that it was 
to reach its true fulfilment just prior to the end, 
as it is used in such close connection with the 
coming of the Son of man. The word ' ' eagles ' ' 
is more correctly rendered ^^ vultures" in the 
New Version. The basis of the language is a 
dead, putrefying body, the scent of which at- 
tracts the vultures and other birds, and beasts 
of prey. The lesson or application of this fig- 
ure is highly spiritual. 

^^And the carcasses of this people shall be 
meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the 
beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them 
away." Jer. 7: 33. ^^Thou shalt fall upon the 
mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, 
and the people that is with thee : I will give thee 



404 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the 
beasts of the field to be devoured." Ezek. 39: 
4. ^'And thou son of man, thus saith the 
Lord God : Speak unto every feathered fowl, 
and to every beast of the field. Assem- 
ble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves 
on every side to my sacrifice that I do 
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon 
the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, 
and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the 
mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of 
the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of 
bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And 
ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood 
till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have 
sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at 
my table with horses and chariots, with mighty 
men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord 
God." Ezek. 39 : 17-20. 

The stink which comes out of the carcasses 
(spiritual carcasses) of the thousands in Bab- 
ylon who have been slain by the sword of truth 
attracts myriads of ^^ delusive spirits." The 
condition of fallen sectism is surely a stench 
in the nostrils of God. It is offensive to every 
sanctified soul. These spiritual carcasses shall 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 405 

be inhabited by '^monsters," ^^ fowls," etc. In 
them ' ' devils have found for themselves a place 
of rest." This perfectly harmonizes with the 
description given in Rev. 18 : 2. Different kinds 
of birds and f onl spirits being grouped together 
in these texts carry our minds back to the ruins 
of ancient Babylon, which was a hold of all man- 
ner of birds and beasts, and which clearly typi- 
fied the swarm of unclean and deceptive spirits 
which throng sectism today. 

There is another solemn fact I wish to call 
the reader's attention to before leaving this 
point. This work gives us data to calculate our 
whereabouts on the stream of time. ^^All ye 
inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the 
earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on 
the mountains ; and when he bloweth a trumpet, 
hear ye. For so the Lord said unto me, I will 
take my rest, and I will consider in my dwell- 
ing-place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like 
a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. For afore 
the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the 
sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall 
both cut off the sprigs with pruning-hooks, and 
take away and cut down the branches. They 
shall be left together unto the fowls of the 



406 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and 
the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the 
beasts of the earth shall winter upon them." 
Isa. 18 : 3-6. This time has come. The ensign 
— Christ— is lifted up— a token for the people 
to gather unto him. The trumpet of truth is 
being blown. ''Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, 
and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let 
all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the 
day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand." 
Ah! a sign that the day of the Lord is nigh at 
hand. A clear heat is produced in the church, 
his dwelling-place. Judgment is executed, and 
a pruning-time has come. Sprigs and branches 
are cut off and taken away; namely, ^' every 
branch that beareth not fruit he taketh away" 
(John 15: 2). These cut-off branches (dead pro- 
fessors) '^ shall be left together unto the fowls 
of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth. ' ' 
This is the very work described in the many 
texts already cited. But when was it all to be 
accomplished? Just ''afore the harvest"— 
just before the end. Reader, we are living in 
that very time. 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 407 

The Evening Light. 

In the history of the church the Christian era 
is divided into four distinct epochs: 1. The 
morning-light age— the primitive church in all 
her glory. 2. The papal age— the reign of night, 
or dark superstition, known as the Dark Ages. 
3. The Protestant age, or the reign of sectism ; 
the period when God's church was in a scattered 
condition— the ^'cloudy day." 4. The evening- 
light age, which restores primitive Christianity 
in all its beauty and glory, and presents to the 
world the redeemed church of God, gathered 
out of all confusion and sin into the one body 
and fold of Christ. 

^^It shall come to pass, that at evening time 
it shall be light." Zech. 14: 7. This refers to 
the evening of the gospel day. We are now liv- 
ing in that very period. It was foretold that 
in this evening of time all the clouds that have 
hung in the spiritual sky for centuries should 
pass away and that the church should come to 
the summit of Zion transplendent with the same 
brilliant light that adorned her in the morning 
of this dispensation. ^^At evening time, it shall 
be light /^ 



408 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

The evening light restores the whole truth. 
True holiness and nnity inseparable and eter- 
nal principles^ again adorn the church of God. 
A self-sacrificing ministry are heralding the 
pure gospel to the nations of earth. This epoch 
of the church will continue till Jesus comes. 
Tens of thousands have already been gathered 
out of sect-confusion, and are rejoicing in the 
heights of Zion. Thousands more have been 
saved from sin and vice, and are now happy in 
a Savior's love. The gifts of the Spirit are 
again manifest in the church, as in days of yore ; 
and thousands have been healed of all manner 
of sicknesses and diseases. Blind eyes are be- 
ing opened, the deaf are made to hear, the 
lame to walk, the dumb to speak; and the dead 
have been raised to life in answer to prayer. 
And we shall see greater manifestations of 
God's power, as we ^^ follow on to know the 
Lord." 



'_ 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. .409 



A Pure Church Restored. 

Of the primitive church in its normal state, 
at the time when it was the ideal for all future 
ages, it is declared that ^'of the rest durst no 
man join himself to them" (Acts 5: 13). '^They 
were all filled with the Holy Ghost. . . . And 
the multitude of them that believed were of one 
heart and of one soul. . . . And great grace was 
upon them all/' Acts 4:31-33. This was de- 
clared of the visible body of believers. They 
presented to the world a clean, separate, dis- 
tinct church, or people. They were pure from 
sin and sinners. The spirit of discernment 
in the apostles, and the mighty power and glory 
of God that rested upon them, made it impos- 
sible for hypocrites and sinners to profess 
among them. ^'Of the rest durst no man join 
himself to them." 

But step by step the church drifted from tliis 
high plane and soon the great apostasy came. 
Then the priests ^^put no difference between tlie 
holy and profane," ^^ showed no difference be- 
tween the unclean and the clean" (Ezok. 22: 
26). Thus a mixed condition came in. Espe- 



410 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

cially has this been true during the Protestant 
era— saints and sinners, true believers and hypo- 
crites, the humble and the proud, all classes and 
kinds have been yoked up together, and all la- 
beled ^ ^ Christians. " 

But, dear reader, better days have come. The 
prophet foretold a time when the people of God 
would ^^ return, and discern between the right- 
eous and the wicked, between him that serveth 
God and him that sei*^^eth him not" (Mai. 3 : 18). 
We are living in that time. We have returned 
to the primitive plane, and by the Word and 
Spirit of God we are able to discern between the 
righteous and the wicked. Sectarians cry, 
^^You can't have a pure church; there must be 
mixture." Here is God's answer to them: ^^If 
thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou 
shalt be as my mouth. ' ' Jer. 15 : 19. God does 
not approve of a mixture of saints and ^'sin- 
ners in the congregation of the righteous" (Psa. 
1:5). ^^So shall ye know that I am the Lord 
your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain : 
then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no 
strangers pass through her any more." Joel 
3 : 17. This is the church. The Lord calls it 
^^my holy mountain." Under the metaphor of 



ITS RISE AND PKOGRESS. 411 

Jerusalem, the redeemed church in the evening 
time ^^ shall be holy"— so much so that '^no 
strangers [sinners] shall pass through her any 
more. ' ' 

May God raise up many thousand witnesses 
to go forth with the righteous indignation of 
Josiah and the thunderbolts of heaven's truth, 
and take away the high places of pride and 
idolatry, and abolish the abomination of sectism 
out of the hearts of the people. Amen. 

Christ is today gathering his church out of 
all the sects back to Zion. They return on the 
highway of holiness; namely, he sanctifies and 
cleanses them from all sin and traditions, and 
thus prepares his church, so she may be pre- 
sented to himself ^^a glorious church, not hav- 
ing spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, ' ' a holy 
church without blemish. T'rue holiness adorned 
the church in primitive days. Had she but re- 
tained this glorious truth and experience, this 
globe today would be girdled with a belt of light 
and salvation. But instead, an apostasy came. 
The light of truth was soon extinguished by dark 
clouds of superstition and of false doctrines. 
Holiness is really the mainspring of all gospel 
truth. To retrograde from it would be to throw 



412 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

open the doors to every species of false doc- 
trine and error. 

It was in this manner that the way was paved 
for the great apostasy. At a very early date 
true holiness* was lost sight of, and was hid 
from the general masses of the people. Had it 
ever been retained by the church, there would 
never have been an apostasy. Mark you! By 
retrograding from true holiness the church went 
into apostasy, and was defiled. By returning 
to the true standard of holiness the church is 
brought out of the apostasy, and cleansed. The 
fire of holiness and truth restores a pure church. 
The result is, ^'The sinners in Zion are afraid; 
fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who 
among us shall dwell with the devouring fire! 
who among us shall dwell with everlasting burn- 
ings?" As the judgments of truth are executed 
and the fire of holiness accompanies the same, 
sinners and hypocrites are surprised and made 
afraid to profess among us. None can dwell in 
this devouring fire, only those who walk right- 
eously. ' ' Therefore the ungodly shall not stand 
in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation 
of the righteous." Psa. 1:5. ^'But who may 
abide the day of his coming? and who shall 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 413 

stand when he appearetli? for lie is like a re- 
finer 's fire, and like fullers ' soap : and he shall sit 
as a refiner and purifier of silver : and he shall 
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold 
and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord 
an offering in righteousness. Then shall the 
offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant 
unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in 
former years. And I will come near to you to 
judgment ; and I will be a swift witness against 
the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and 
against false swearers, and against those that 
oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, 
and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stran- 
ger from his right, and fear not me, saith the 
Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change 
not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not con- 
sumed." Mai. 3:2-6. ^'And they shall be 
mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when 
I make up my jewels ; and I will spare them, as 
a man spareth his own son that serveth him.'' 
Verse 17. 

While Mai. 3:2, 3 was fulfilled when Christ 
came in his personal advent to this world, yet 
the same work he then effected, he is now ef- 
fecting in this evening time ; namely, purifying 



414 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

unto himself a holy church. These scriptures 
beautifully portray the present holiness work. 
Christ sits, a refining fire. He sits upon ^^the 
throne of his holiness.'' His throne is ^4ike a 
fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire." 
This throne of grace and holiness is ^^ within 
us." Thus he suddenly comes to his temple. 
^^Ye are the temple of the living God: as God 
hath said, I will dwell in them." He purges 
and purifies his church; even as gold and sil- 
ver, our hearts are purified by faith. The result 
of this cleansing is realized by the people of 
God offering unto the Lord^ ^ an offering in right- 
eousness." Such offerings are ^^ pleasant unto 
the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former 
years [apostolic times]." 

Glory to God ! we have reached its fulfilment. 
Since he is dwelling in his church thus cleansed, 
he executes judgment against all sin and cor- 
rupt religions, and is a swift witness against 
men who would dare to profess among us and 
be guilty of the things enumerated in verse 5. 
Thus sinners can not stand in the congregation 
of the righteous. As we return to the apostolic 
plane, we are enabled to '^discern between the 
righteous and the wicked, between him that 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 415 

serveth God and him that serveth him not/' 
Thus ^^the righteous are taken from among the 
vile"— a pure church is gathered and cleansed; 
and of them he says, ' ' They shall be mine, when 
I make up my jewels." 

We cooperate with Christ in this great work. 
What his Word accepts we accept; what it re- 
jects we reject. Thus the rebels are purged out 
from among us. ^^And it shall come to pass, 
that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts 
therein shall be cut off and die; but the third 
shall be left therein. And I will bring the third 
part through the fire, and will refine them as 
silver is refined, and will try them as gold is 
tried: they shall call on my name, and I will 
hear them : I will say, It is my people : and they 
shall say, The Lord is my God. ' ' Zech. 13 : 8, 
9. That which cuts off two parts in all the land 
is the judgments written. God's ministers lay 
'^judgment to the line, and righteousness to the 
plummet. ' ' The whole truth which they preach 
is '^sharper than a two-edged sword" and cuts 
off all who will not obey. The third part left 
is the remnant who walk in the light and obey 
the whole truth. These are refined by the fire. 

' ' Many shall be purified, and made white, and 



416 THE CHRISTIAN CITTIECH: 

tried." •'Many must be tested [ehoseu out- 
Greek] . and thoroughly whitened, and tried with 
fire, and sanctified." Dan. 12:10, Septuagint. 
Here we -ee that at the end of the apostasy 
there was to be a great holiness reformation. 
This is the veiy work that is now cleansing and 
purifying the sanctuary, or church. This same 
cleansing and redeeming of the church is seen 
in the first chapter of Isaiah. TTe wiU give it 
as rendered in the LXX: 

•'How has the faithful city Sion, once full of 
judgment, become a harlot I wherein righteous- 
ness lodged, but now murderers. Your silver 
is worthless, thy wine-merchants mix the wine 
with water. Thy piinces are rebellious, com- 
panions of thieves, loving bribes, seeking after 
rewards : not pleading for orphans, and not heed- 
ing the cause of widows. Therefore thus saith 
the Lord, the Lord of hosts. TVoe to the mighty 
men of Israel: for my wrath shall not cease 
against mine adversaries, and I will execute 
judgment on mine enemies. And I will bring 
my hand upon thee, and purge thee completely, 
and I will destroy the rebellious, and will take 
away from thee all transgressors. And I will 
establish thy judges as before, and thy counsel- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 417 

ors as at the beginning: and afterward thou 
shalt be called the city of righteousness, the 
faithful mother-city Sion. For her captives shall 
be saved with judgment, and with mercy." Isa. 
1:21-27. 

The faithful city Sion, once full of judgment, 
wherein righteousness lodged, refers to the pure 
church of God in her pristine glory. '^She be- 
came a harlot. ' ' This refers to her apostatized 
condition. ' ' Her merchants ' ' refers to her min- 
isters. It is said that ' ' they mix the wine with 
water"; that is, they weaken the gospel and do 
not deal it out in its full strength. Oh, how 
truly is this fulfilled in Babylon! The pure 
unadultered truth is not heard there. Their 
ministers fear to preach it. They weaken it to 
suit their own theories and the crooked lives of 
their members. They ^^seek after rewards"— 
preach for the people's money, rather tlian to 
benefit souls— a hireling ministry. 

But, thank God, this was not always to con- 
tinue. God declares that he will execute judg- 
ment upon all such. ' ' And I will bring my hand 
upon thee [his people, his church] and purge 
thee completely, and I will destroy the rebel- 
lious, and will take away from thee all trans- 



418 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

gressors. ' ' This very work is now going on, and 
is restoring a pure churcli. ^^And I will estab- 
lish thy judges as before''; namely, establish 
his people and ministry in holiness (1 Thess. 
3: 13), where they shall be full of judgment by 
the Spirit of the Lord, ^^to declare unto Jacob 
his transgressions, and unto Israel his sin" 
(Micah 3:8). ^^And thy counselors as at the 
beginning [apostolic days]." '^Zion shall be 
redeemed with judgment and her converts with 
righteousness." ^^And afterwards thou shalt 
be called the city of righteousness, the faithful 
mother-city Sion. " This represents the glory 
of the church after being purified and cleansed 
in this evening time. 

This same truth is brought out in other texts. 
We will here give Isa. 4:3-5: " And it shall 
come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and 
he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called 
holy, even every one that is written among the 
living in Jerusalem: when the Lord shall have 
washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, 
and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem 
from the midst thereof by the spirit of judg- 
ment, and by the spirit of burning. And the 
Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of 



. 



J 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 419 

mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud 
and smoke by day, and the shining of a flam- 
ing fire by night : for upon all the glory shall be 
a defense. ' ' Zion and Jerusalem are metaphors, 
which signify the church. Here it is seen that 
after she is purged by the spirit of judgment 
and burning, the Word and Spirit, all that re- 
main shall be called holy, and ^^upon all the 
glory shall be a defense"; namely, ''the glory 
that thou gavest me I have given them, that they 
may be one as we are.'' Thank God for a re- 
deemed church. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 421 

A World-wide Movement, 

Christianity is the only religion adapted to 
become directly catholic. It will apply uni- 
versally to all men of all nations irrespective of 
political differences, customs, manners, and 
dress. 

That Christianity will spread over all the 
world before the end comes is clearly taught in 
the Bible. To Abraham, God confirmed with an 
oath the following promise, and repeated the 
same to Isaac and Jacob : ^ ^ In thy seed shall all 
the nations of earth be blessed." Gen. 22: 18. 
^^And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as 
the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is 
upon the seashore. ' ' Verse 17. This last prom- 
ise reached a literal fulfilment during the law 
dispensation in Israel after the flesh. They mul- 
tiplied until they became a numerous seed— a 
great nation. But its real and principal fulfil- 
ment was to take place under the gospel. Paul 
makes this clear in his Galatian letter: ^^They 
which are of faith the same are the children of 
Abraham. And the scriptures, foreseeing that 
God would justify the heathen through faith, 
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, say- 



422 THE CHKISTIAN CHUECH: 

ing, In thee shall all nations of the earth be 
blessed." Gal. 3:7, 8. ^^That the blessing of 
Abraham might come on the Gentiles through 
Jesns Christ." Verse 14. ^^And to thy seed, 
which is Christ. ' ' Verse 16. This makes clear 
that through Jesus Christ all the nations of 
earth are to be blessed, and that the heathen thus 
converted and blessed shall be numbered like 
the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea- 
shore. As surely as God has spoken, this must 
fully come to pass, for it is confirmed with 
the oath of the Almighty. And from PauPs 
language it is clear that the multitude saved 
from the Gentile nations of earth during the 
entire Christian dispensation is the fulfilment 
of the promise. 

*^I have set thee [Christ] to be a light of 
the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salva- 
tion unto the ends of the earth. ' ' Acts 13 : 47. 
Yes, ^^all ends of the world shall remember and 
turn unto the Lord : and all the kindreds of the 
nations shall worship before thee." Psa. 22: 
27. ' ' The heathen for thine inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for thy posses- 
sion." Psa. 2:8. ^'He shall speak peace unto 
the heathen ; and his dominion shall be from sea 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 423 

to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the 
earth. ' ' Zech. 9 : 10. '' My name shall be great 
among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense 
shall be offered unto my name, and a pure of- 
fering: for my name shall be great among the 
heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." Mai. 1: 11. 
^^For the earth shall be filled with the knowl- 
edge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters 
cover the sea. ' ' Hab. 2 : 14. " The abundance 
of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the 
forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." 
Isa. 60 : 5. '' The glory of the Gentiles like a 
flowing stream. ' ' Isa. 66 : 12. '' The Gentiles 
shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth. ' ' 
Jer. 16: 19. ^^I bring you good tidings of great 
joy which shall be to all people." Luke 2: 10. 
^'And that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name among all na- 
tions, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24:47. 
' ' And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Je- 
rusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 
1:8. ^^This gospel of the kingdom shall be 
preached in all the world for a witness unto all 
nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 
24:14. Hence the urgent command, '^Go ye 



424 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

therefore and teacli all nations." ^^Go ye into 
all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature. ' ' 

I have quoted at considerable length, and yet 
many more like texts could be given to show 
that Christianity must become universal. The 
saving gospel will reach every nation and peo- 
ple of earth. It shall penetrate the uttermost 
parts of the earth and reach all people. Before 
the end it not only will be preached as a wit- 
ness to all nations, but will carry with it sal- 
vation to every part of the earth. " * The abun- 
dance of the seas," that is, people from all the 
ends of the world, shall be converted and turn 
to the Lord; thus all nations will be blessed. 
In eveiy place men shall offer sacrifice and 
praise to God, and ''the earth shall be filled with 
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the 
waters cover the sea. ' ' Thus Christ shall have 
the heathen for his inheritance and the utter- 
most parts of the earth for his possession. His 
spiritual dominion shall reach ''from sea to 
sea, and from the river even to the ends of the 
earth." The pure church and kingdom is des- 
tined to become a great mountain and ''fill the 
whole earth" (Dan. 2:34); that is, it will be 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 425 

universal ^'' under the whole heaven" (Dan. 7: 
27). 

Since truth is eternal and the Word of Grod 
can not be broken, all the above scriptures will 
and must reach a fulfilment. According to 
M^tt. 24 : 14, they will reach their fulfilment dur- 
ing the current dispensation. Many latter-day 
teachers place the fulfilment of these great 
promises in a supposed millennial age to follow 
the present dispensation, but such is all human 
invention. The gospel age is the last. This 
dispensation will close with the coming of 
Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the great 
day of judgment, at which time the righteous 
will be rewarded in heaven, the wicked punished 
in hell, and '^the earth and the works therein 
shall be burned up. ' ' 

We are now living in what is preeminently 
the day of salvation for all the world. '^Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is 
the day of salvation.'' It is in the age ushered 
in by Christ's first advent when he shall have 
dominion from sea to sea, and to the ends of 
the earth (see Zech. 9:9, 10; Isa. 11:9, 10; 
and Psa. 2:7, 8). The earth can not perish un- 
til every continent, island, and people is illu- 



426 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

minated with the light of the gospel. There 
must be a universal spread of the truth on the 
inhabitable globe. 

As before stated, this great work began in the 
ministry of Jesus, was carried forward under 
the labors of the apostles and the early minis- 
try, and has been more or less progressive 
throughout all ages. It is, however, a fact that 
as yet the foregoing scriptures have had but a 
limited and partial fulfilment. 

In the morning-light age of the church the 
gospel reached but little beyond the limits of 
the Roman empire. It was confined to the few 
countries clustering around the Mediterranean 
Sea. Paul went as far as Spain. A few churches 
were planted along the northern coast of Af- 
rica. Churches flourished in Egypt, Palestine, 
and a small portion of Asia. In Europe it was 
confined to territory along the northern coast of 
the Mediterranean Sea. The entire territory 
over which the gospel spread in those primitive 
times would cover only about half the area of 
the United Sates of America. Before the great 
apostasy came, the entire territory covered by 
the gospel was very small compared with the 
area of the entire world. To say, then, that 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 427 

the morning-light age of the church comprised 
the reaping of the entire harvest of the Gentile, 
or heathen, world is indeed folly. If so, then 
but a small patch of the great harvest-field— 
about one-twentieth—was reaped, for ^^the 
field is the world''— not merely the few coun- 
tries around the Mediterranean Sea, but the 
ivorld. In the light of these positive facts, the 
limit of the spread of the gospel in apostolic 
days proves beyond question that the great 
promises set forth in the many texts already 
quoted did not reach their complete fulfilment 
then. 

The church of Rome spread out farther. But 
this was apostate Christianity, and the pure 
gospel was not preached. The Sixteenth Cen- 
tury Reformation was confined to a few Euro- 
pean states, while the Wesleyan Reformation 
spread over only Great Britain and a few 
American colonies. Protestantism has been im- 
bued with a missionary spirit, and considerable 
work has been accomplished by the faithful 
self-sacrificing saints therein. We would not 
for a moment reflect upon the work accom- 
plished by these faithful men and women, but 
after more than three hundred years of mis- 



428 ' THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

sionary effort by Protestantism the world yet 
remains enshrouded in heathen darkness. To- 
day more than a billion people are antiehris- 
tian. It is estimated that abont eight hundred 
millions remain in heathen darkness. It fol- 
lows conclusively, then, that the universal 
spread of the gospel, the final triumph of Chris- 
tianity in all the world, returning to the Lord of 
people from all the ends of the earth, has not 
yet been fully realized. 

But let us get at the real truth. In all the 
dealings of God with man there has been a 
plan, and he in his own good time has worked 
out that plan. Let us consider why the gospel 
did not and in fact could not reach the ends of 
the earth universally in the morning-light age 
of the church. 

First, the limited knowledge of the earth's 
area. At the time of Christ's first advent and 
the introduction of Christianity, it was generally 
understood that the Roman empire covered 
bout all the earth (see Luke 2:1). The Medi- 
terranean Sea was the largest body of water 
really known on the globe. Around its shores 
clustered the provinces of the whole then-known 
world. The Atlantic Ocean was mostly an un- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 429 

explored sea, as was also the Pacific. The In- 
dian Ocean had but a shadowy and almost fabu- 
lous existence. In fact, the whole world, with 
its teeming millions, that lay outside of the lim- 
its of the Roman empire was unexplored and 
unknown. The maps at that time showed the 
Great Sea— the Mediterranean— to be the cen- 
ter and the countries surrounding it the limits. 
This explains how the Queen of Sheba came 
from ''the uttermost parts of the earth" to see 
the wisdom of Solomon. She came but a little 
distance as we measure the earth now. In this 
instance Jesus accommodated his language to his 
hearers' limited knowledge and understanding. 
It seems that Paul did likewise when the gospel 
reached the limits of the Roman empire. It was 
said that it sounded out ^4n all the earth" and 
^^was preached to everj creature under 
heaven." This shows how limited was their 
knowledge and understanding of the extent of 
the earth's area. Wliat to them seemed like all 
the earth was in reality not a twentieth part of 
the whole world. 

Second, the poor means of conveyance. The 
ministry of Jesus was confined to a small ter- 
ritory a few hundred miles in circumference. 



430 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

The most northern point reached by him was 
Caesarea Philippi, a city only one hundred and 
twenty miles north of Jerusalem. But we must 
take into consideration the fact that most of his 
traveling was done on foot, possibly some along 
the seacoasts in sailboats. He and his disci- 
ples walked from place to place, from city to 
city. He sent the Seventy before him two by 
two. There were no railroads, no electric lines, 
no steamships, no fljang machines, no telegraph 
wires, no telephones, no wireless telegraphy, no 
printing-presses— in fact, none of our modem 
rapid means of conveyance or of transmitting 
messages. Their only means of carrjdng mes- 
sages was on foot or by donkey and camel.. 
Paul, who traveled more extensively than any 
other of the early ministers, went mostly on 
foot. His travel on water was by sailboats, 
which were very slow and tedious. By modern 
methods, the entire ground traveled by the 
apostle during his thirty-two years' ministry 
could be covered in a very few weeks. Taking 
all this into consideration, we see that the self- 
sacrificing primitive ministry did remarkably 
well to carry the gospel truth even to the Roman 
world and a few places in regions beyond. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 431 

Tlie nunistry of Jesus was one of constant la- 
bor and sacrifice. His was a busy life. When 
Jesus sent forth his disciples with the mes- 
sage of salvation, he told them that their mes- 
sage was so urgent they should salute no man 
by the way. Salutations is those Eastern coun- 
tries were very tedious and would have required 
much of their time. ^^Go to the lost sheep of 
the house of Israel.'' ^^And ye shall not have 
gone over the cities of Israel until the Son of 
man have come." This is more properly ren- 
dered, ^Hill the Son of man overtake you." 
That is, he sent them forth to introduce the 
gospel of the kingdom in the different cities in 
which he himself would preach, and he gave 
them to understand that they would not reach all 
the cities of Israel until he would overtake them. 

But times have changed. The globe has been 
circumnavigated. The great waters of the At- 
lantic and Pacific and Indian Oceans have been 
crossed and recrossed. The Arctic and Ant- 
arctic Oceans have been penetrated by modern 
sea-vessels. Probably every navigable country 
on earth and every island of the sea has been 
explored. The great and mighty nations of 
earth, then entirely unknown to civilization, 



432 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

have been penetrated by modem civilization. 
Such great nations and countries as China, In- 
dia, Japan, and Africa, which have never been 
reached by Christianity, except in a very limited 
way, but as a whole remain wrapped and bound 
in pagan darkness, are today opening their doors 
to the gospel and with outstretched aiTQS are 
calling for salvation from sin. 

The evening light is breaking. Surely God 
rules in the kingdoms of men, and thus through 
modern improvement and invention the way 
has been prepared for the evangelizing of the 
world. All this, with famine, pestilences, and 
wars, have plowed furrows for gospel seed into 
the darkest comers of the earth. Today in- 
stead of the slow foot-travel of primitive times, 
we have a modern railroad system with its light- 
ning express-trains operating throughout the 
land. AYe have a network of electric lines 
operating in every direction. Great steamships 
plow across the seas in a few short days. Al- 
ready airships are safely carrying passengers 
from one point to another. Thus messengers 
of God can ^^run to and fro" in the earth with 
almost lightning rapidity and also fly in the 
midst of heaven, '' having the everlasting gos- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 433 

pel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, 
to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and 
people'' (Rev. 14: 6). 

The modem printing-press is being utilized 
by God to turn out volumes of truth and send 
them broadcast to every nation like leaves from 
the tree of life. Messages can be sent around 
the world in a few hours by telegraph and tele- 
phone. The North Pole is said to have been 
recently discovered, and an expedition is now 
on. its way toward the South Pole. It looks as 
if every corner of the earth would be reached. 
We stand in awe and wonderment, yea, in holy 
awe and reverence, as we behold the guiding 
and directing hand of God. It is the great day 
of preparation. It certainly looks as if these 
modern inventions would be used of God in 
bringing about his glorious purpose and in car- 
rying out his plan in the world's evangelization. 

The evening-light reformation is, we believe, 
the one designed of God to fulfil the great spir- 
itual work thus to be accomplished. ^'It shall 
come to pass that at evening time it shall be 
light. And it shall be in that day that living 
waters shall go out from Jerusalem ; half of 
them toward the eastern sea, and half of them 



43f4 



THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 



toward the western sea ; in summer and in win- 
ter shall it be. And Jehovah shall be king over 
all the earth; in that day shall Jehovah be one 
and his name one. ' ' Zech. 14 : 7-9, A. E. V. 

The evening light reveals the corruption of 
sect-Babylon, calls out the people of God scat- 
tered in the various folds, and restores a pure 
church— the church of God in all its primitive 
glory and power. This has largely been the 
work of the reformation thus far. The pure 
church thus gathered and redeemed is in proph- 
ecy metaphorically termed Jerusalem. Many 
have thought that the restoration of Zion— the 
church— to its primitive glory is all that is to 
be accomplished in the blessed evening light, 
and that when this is fully accomplished, the 
Lord will immediately come; but, dear reader, 
you will observe that after the restoration of 
the pure church— Jerusalem— then shall living 
waters go out of her toward the eastern and the 
western sea. These living waters are the streams 
of gospel truth and salvation that shall flow out 
to all the world. These flow out from Jerusa- 
lem—the pure church of God. They are des- 
tined to cover the earth with the knowledge of 
God till all nations shall be blessed thereby, and 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 435 

people from all the ends of the world shall re- 
member and turn unto the Lord. Thank God 
for this blessed day ! 

Jehovah shall be king over all the earth in 
the evening of time. The spiritual domain of 
Christ shall reach from sea to sea, even to the 
ends of the earth. Present facts, we believe, 
bear this out. The reformation thus far has 
been principally directed in restoring the whole 
truth— full salvation from sin through holiness, 
divine healing, gifts of the Spirit, and unity of 
the Spirit in the one church of God. Sect-Bab- 
ylon has been exposed as a false and corrupt 
system, and a voice from heaven has been calling 
out of her the people of God. The result is, 
thousands of sinners have been saved from sin 
into the one fold of Christ and thousands of 
others have been gathered out of sectism. All 
these together constitute the Zion of God, the 
redeemed church in the blessed evening light. 
Others are still coming from sin and sectism 
to the heights of Zion, to the mount of holiness. 

But a missionary spirit is now taking hold of 
the church. Instead of thinking that the day of 
judgment is but a step before us, the church is 
being inspired with a spirit of evangelizing the 



436 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

world before Christ comes again. Thougli the 
great truth of Christ's second coming and the 
near approach of the end of the world is made 
prominent in our teaching, we believe that all 
signs point to the impending judgments soon 
to break in upon this degenerate world, yet a 
special effort is being made to spread the saving 
truth of the gospel to all people before Jesus 
comes, and we believe that it is the hand of God 
moving in the order of his plan. Already self- 
sacrificing missionaries are going to the differ- 
ent nations of earth, missions are being estab- 
lished in foreign lands, missionary homes are 
being built in many of our cities for the train- 
ing of workers to invade heathen lands, pure 
literature by the ton is being sent to almost 
every corner of the earth. All this is prepar- 
ing the way for the stupendous work before us. 
In fact, the reformation thus far has been but 
a preparation for the great work soon to be 
accomplished. The whole church on earth is 
being inspired of God for world-wide mission- 
ary work. It is certainly God's time, his plan, 
and his leading. He had prepared for this. Ev- 
er}i;hing in the world seems to point to this 
spreading of the gospel over all the earth. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 437 

In Rev. 14 : 6-10 we have the three great mes- 
sages of the reformation of the evening time. 
Included in these is^ ^^The everlasting gospel 
shall be preached to every nation, and kindred, 
and tongue, and people." A careful study of 
the seventh chapter of Daniel will show that 
after the reign of the 'kittle horn" and the 
consumption of apostate religion by the burn- 
ing judgments of truth restored in the pure 
church in this evening time, ''the kingdom and 
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom un- 
der the whole heaven, shall be given to the peo- 
ple of the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7: 
27). This certainly teaches the spread of the 
gospel to all nations in the last days. We 
trust that erelong the vessels that plow the seas 
will carry hundreds of blood-washed saints with 
the message of salvation to all people. 



''The watch-fires kindle far and near; 
In every land let them appear, 
Till burning lights of gospel fire 
Shall gird the world and mount up higher. ' ' 

'*We will gird the globe with salvation, 
With holiness unto the Lord^ 
Until light shall illumine every nation, 
The light from the lamp of his Word." 



438 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

This is the time when the gospel shall reach 
all nations and many of the heathen shall be 
saved. 

Before closing this chapter I wish to consider 
a few points that to the minds of some may 
seem like a contradiction of the truths con- 
tained in this chapter and in the one following. 
First, the fact that we are living in the time 
when the whole world shall hear the gospel and 
Christianity shall become universal, does not 
prove that all men will be saved. At the very 
time when Christianity spread over the Roman 
empire and supplanted paganism, and hundreds 
of thousands were saved through the gospel, 
wickedness and sin continued on every side. So 
in the last days not all men will be saved, but 
'^evil men will wax worse and worse." Daniel 
gives us a picture of the world at the time of 
the end: ^^Many shall be purified, and made 
white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wick- 
edly and none of the wicked shall understand; 
but the wise shall understand. ' ' Dan. 12 : 9, 10. 
So let it be understood that when the Bible says 
that people from all the ends of the earth shall 
remember and turn to the Lord as a result of 
the pure gospel's being preached to all nations, 



I 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 439 

it does not mean that the majority will be saved, 
but it simply teaches that ^^many" of all na- 
tions will turn to Christ and be saved; that is, 
wherever the saving gospel is carried, some 
will be saved, though few compared with those 
who will be lost. 

There are a number of texts that teach a state 
of wickedness at the revelation of Christ from 
heaven. Matt. 24 : 11, 12, is generally applied 
to the time immediately before Christ's com- 
ing. A careful reading of the texts and con- 
texts, however, show that the great apostasy, 
the reign of false prophets, and the deception 
of the Christian era are foretold. Following 
this the blessed gospel of the kingdom shall be 
preached unto all nations (verse 14). 2 Thess. 
2 : 2-12 has largely reached its fulfilment dur- 
ing the Catholic age, although this power is said 
to continue until destroyed by the brightness 
of his coming. 2 Tim. 3 : 1-5 and 1 Tim. 4 : 1-3 
are certainly fulfilled in apostate Christianit}' 
and apply there, although it is a fact that this 
deplorable state of things still continues, men 
being lovers of pleasure more than lovers of 
God, and having a form of godliness but de- 
nying the power thereof. Careful study ol* 



440 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

these few scriptures, however, shows that out 
of this state of things God gathers his people 
— separates them as wheat is separated from 
the chaff. From all this maze of confusion and 
dead formality God is now separating his clean, 
pure bride— the church— and at the second com- 
ing of Christ these empty professors will con- 
stitute no part of Christ's church. The fact 
that a general reign of deception and formalism 
will continue in apostate Christianity right up 
to the end, in no wise conflicts with the truth 
of the world's evangelization through the in- 
strumentality of the pure church of God. These 
texts describe only the condition of the pro- 
fessed Christian world in the last days, and at 
the very time God separates from this mass of 
professors his own pure and chosen bride. 

It may be objected that his coming will be as 
a thief and a snare (Luke 21:34, 35; 1 Thess. 
5: 1-5) ; but this will be true only of those who 
are unsaved ; of the many scoffers and worldly- 
minded, whose hearts are waxed gross through 
drunkenness, surfeiting, and the cares of life; 
of those throughout the earth who live in sin, 
fail to make preparation, but in carnal security 
cry, ^' Peace and safety." To all such the com- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 441 

ing of Christ will be like a snare ; but tbe mul- 
titude of the saved— the church— will be ^^ look- 
ing for and hasting unto the coming of the day 
of God" (2 Pet. 3:12). They are children of 
the light and children of the day, and that day 
will not overtake them as a thief (1 Thess. 5: 
4-6). The five foolish virgins represent all 
those who will not be ready, and the five wise 
ones represent those who are saved. To the 
former Christ's coming will be unexpected; to 
the latter it will be welcome, for they are ready. 
' ' Even so come. Lord Jesus. ' ' 

In Luke 17 : 26-30 Jesus likens his coming to 
the flood and to the destruction of Sodom. I 
question whether the Lord here intended to 
teach that the same proportion of wickedness 
that was characteristic of the antediluvian world 
and of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah would 
be prevalent in the earth at his coming. If he 
here intended to teach that no more propor- 
tionately would be saved at his second coming 
than were saved at the time of the flood— '^ eight 
souls"— or at the destruction of Sodom— three 
souls— then we may well despair the evangeliza- 
tion of the earth. But such an interpretation 
of Christ's words would place them in direct 



442 THE CHKISTIAN CHUECH: 

contradiction to all tlie many plain scriptures 
that teach exactly the reverse, as seen in this 
and in the following chapter. 

A careful reading of Luke 17 : 26-30 and Matt. 
24 : 36-39 shows that Christ neither mentioned 
the proportion of people to be saved nor spoke 
of the awful sins of Sodom and then compare 
them to the wickednes of earth at the time of his 
coming. The thought is, ^^Of that day and hour 
knoweth no man. ' ' When the deluge burst upon 
the earth, the people were eating and drinking, 
marrying and giving in marriage, planting and 
building, and they ^'knew not until the flood 
came and took them all away." The same was 
true regarding the destruction of Sodom— ^Hhey 
did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they 
planted, they builded, ' ' until the day God rained 
fire from heaven. They knew not the time. In 
these texts Christ says nothing about only a few 
being saved, but he shows that business enter- 
prises and the common routine of daily cares 
and responsibilities will occupy the minds of 
the people right up to the hour of judgment. 
The reason for this he states thus: ^^No man 
knoweth the day and hour when the Son of man 
cometh." Hence this gives weight to Christ's 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 443 

salem charge, ^^ Watch therefore; for ye know 
not what hour the Lord doth come." He also 
said, ^'For in such an hour as ye think not the 
Son of man cometh. ' ' 

Again, it is said that ^^ strait is the gate, and 
narrow is the way, which leads to life," and 
that ' ^ few there be that find it. ' ' Yes, this has 
always been and it ever will be true, but this 
does not contradict the many scriptures that 
teach the reaping of the harvest of the nations 
of earth. During the history of Christianity 
the harvest of some nations has been reaped. 
In the first centuries a great harvest of souls 
was gathered into the garner of the Lord from 
the Roman empire. Thousands upon thou- 
sands were saved, and yet thousands remained 
in sin. During the Reformation of the six- 
teenth century a great harvest was gathered 
in European countries. The Wesleyan Refor- 
mation reaped a great harvest throughout tlie 
British Isles and in many colonies in America ; 
and for a long time America has been a great 
harvest-field. But we affirm, and facts bear out 
the assertion, that such great countries as China, 
India, Japan, and Africa, and many islands of 
the sea, with their teeming millions of i)oor 1)0- 



444 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

nighted souls in heathen darkness, have never 
been harvested. The gospel will surely reach 
these nations, and their harvest is approaching. 
But even if multitudes of the heathen in these 
countries, ^^the abundance of the sea," should 
yet be saved, the host would be few compared to 
the millions lost. Taking the Christian era as 
a whole, the percentage saved compared to the 
millions lost will be small and the number few. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 445 

The Saints Will Have Universal Dominion. 

The final triumph of Christianity over all 
other religions and faiths is assured in the Word 
of God. In Daniel 2 we read of a ^^ stone cut 
out without hands." This refers chiefly to the 
church or kingdom of God— Christianity. It 
did not come by human hands. Being divine, 
it came from heaven. It is of a spiritual na- 
ture; hence no worldly policy, human doctrine, 
nor military force was employed in its estab- 
lishment. 'Not by might nor power, but by the 
Spirit of the Lord of hosts. ' This stone smote 
the image and broke it to pieces. As observed 
in a previous chapter, the great image repre- 
sented four heathen kingdoms that reigned in 
succession in ancient times. These were the 
Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and 
the Roman. It was the Roman which held the do- 
minion when Christ appeared to set up the ever- 
lasting kingdom of heaven. 

At the time when tliis heathen government, 
partaking of all the characteristics of the pre- 
ceding empire, was at its zenith of imperial 
splendor, military glory, legislative authoritj'', 
and literary eminence, Christianity smote it at 



446 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

its veiy foundation, or principles of support, 
and by destroying these brought the whole to 
ruin. This stone began to smite the image when 
the apostles went out into every part of the 
Eoman empire, pulling down idolatry and found- 
ing Christian churches. Soon the saving gos- 
pel spread to every quarter. Pagans were con- 
verted by the thousands. In A. D. 331, by an 
edict of the emperor himself, all the heathen 
temples were ordered destroyed, and Christian- 
ity became the religion of the empire. In the 
very territory where paganism held full sway 
during the dominion of the Babylonian, Medo- 
Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires, Chris- 
tianity was now the universal religion. You 
see that many of the distinguishing marks and 
principles of all the preceding empires remained 
in, and were compacted with, the Roman gov- 
ernment, not only as to their territorial posses- 
sion, but also as to their distinctive characteris- 
tics. Thus when Christianity struck at the roots 
of pagan Rome, not only the iron and clay, but 
also the brass, the silver, and the gold, repre- 
senting the former pagan systems and govern- 
ments, ^^were broken to pieces together." Chris- 
tianity triumphed, and the pagan systems fell. 



^ 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 447 

But mark well the fact that at the very time 
when Christianity crashed the image and broke 
it in pieces, it was only "sl stone." That was 
the blessed morning-light age of the church. 
Christianity at this time was represented by a 
stone, and yet that stone filled the Roman em- 
pire, or the then-knoWQ world ; but it was fore- 
seen that this stone which smote the image be- 
came a ^^ great mountain and filled the whole 
earth" (Dan. 2: 34). This shows that the work 
of Christianity was to be progressive. Begin- 
ning small, it was to continue to enlarge and ex- 
pand. Not only would the Roman empire and a 
few countries clustering around the Mediter- 
ranean Sea be brought under the influence of the 
gospel, but the kingdom— the church of Christ 
—would enlarge from a stone into a mountain, 
yea, ^^a great mountain^ and fill the the ivhole 
earth.' ^ Wherever it goes, it breaks in pieces, 
consumes, and destroys idolatry out of the 
hearts of man. 

What was done in the morning-light age of 
the church throughout the Roman emi)ire is 
what will be accomplished in the evening light 
throughout the whole earth. No law or prin- 
ciple in Christianitj^ is directed against the po- 



448 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

litieal code of any country, but against the sin 
and idolatiy therein. False religions and cor- 
rupt systems of so-called Christianity must give 
way to pure Christianity^ revealed in the whole 
gospel now being preached. That which in 
primitive times spread out and filled the Roman 
empire shall in these last days spread from sea 
to sea and fill the whole earth with its influ- 
ence. By this I mean that those countries which 
have not as yet felt the powerful influence of 
Christianity' will yet feel it; for 'Hhe earth 
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory 
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." 

Since the pure and redeemed church of Grod 
in this evening time is destined to spread over 
all the earth, it follows that Grod's saints will 
have the dominion. Not that the temporal gov- 
ernments will be given into their hands, for the 
reign and kingdom of God is ^^not of this 
world." It is of a spiritual nature. The idea 
is that in the very nations where paganism and 
apostate Christianity rule and govern, there 
pure Christianity will yet wield a mighty in- 
fluence; and since this triumphant reign is the 
enjoyment of the saints, who will be distributed 
in every comer of the earth, theirs is a univer- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 449 

sal dominion. ^^He that overcometh and keep- 
eth my words unto the end, to him will I give 
power over the nations ; and he shall rnle them 
with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter 
shall they be broken to pieces.'' Rev. 2: 26, 27. 
The reign of Christ is a spiritual reign, and his 
kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. He reigns in 
the hearts of his people. 

But his dominion shall be to the ends of the 
earth. ^^The uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession"; that is, his truth and king- 
dom will spread to the uttermost parts of the 
earth and through its conquering influence will 
affect every nation. Thus Christianity will be- 
come the universal religion of earth. All other 
religions are of a local nature and apply only 
to certain nations and peoples, but pure Chris- 
tianity will apply to all nations, and the prophet 
said that ^^all nations shall flow into it." The 
universality of Christianity in the earth at the 
time when Christ comes again, its final and 
glorious triumph, is clearly seen in many scrip- 
tures. 

Turning to the seventh chapter of Daniel, we 
find the same four heathen monarchies— Bab- 
ylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman— 



450 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

brought to view under the symbols of four 
beasts (verses 2, 8, and 17). Following their 
reign, the saints of the Most High were, it is 
said, to ^^take the kingdom, and possess the king- 
dom forever, even forever and ever" (verse 
18). Unlike the heathen kingdoms that pre- 
ceded it, the kingdom of grace and righteous- 
ness possessed by the saints was to continue for- 
ever. All these governments, being imperfect 
in their nature, contained in them the seeds of 
their own destruction. Kings die; ministers 
change; subjects pass away; new relations 
arise; new measures and new projects are origi- 
nated; and these produce political changes and 
often political ruin. All former empires have 
changed, and the very names of the peoples have 
changed with them. The Assyrians were lost 
in the Chaldeans and the Babylonians ; the Bab- 
ylonians were lost in the Medes ; the Medes in 
the Persians; the Persians in the Greeks; and 
the Greeks in the Syrians and Egyptians ; these 
in the Romans; and the Romans in the Goths 
and a variety of other nations. Nor do the 
names of those ancient governments or the peo- 
ple who lived under them remain on the face 
of the earth at the present day. They are found 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 451 

only on the pages of history. Even every dis- 
pensation of God prior to Christianity opposed 
another by which it was to be succeeded. But 
every principle of Christianity is eternal— the 
everlasting gospel, the eternal Spirit, the eter- 
nal God, the eternal Christ, his everlasting love, 
everlasting joy, everlasting righteousness, and 
everlasting peace. All these constitute the ev- 
erlasting kingdom of grace ; and since the saints 
possess these elements in their hearts, theirs is 
an everlasting reign, an everlasting possession. 
Following the setting up of the everlasting- 
kingdom, came the reign of the little hom and 
great apostasy (verses 19-21; 24, 25). During 
this long period the saints were martyred by the 
millions. This power prevailed against them. 
This was to continue until judgment was given 
to the saints of the Most High; and this judg- 
ment executed was to take away the dominion 
of the horn, to ^^ consume and destroy it to tlie 
end" (verse 25). This began with the Refonna- 
tion of Protestantism and reaches its graud cli- 
max in the evening light. The consuming liei-o 
spoken of evidently refers to the executing of 
the flaming judgments of truth against false 
worship and false systems of religion. The fire 



452 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

of salvation and holiness has a consuming ef- 
fect upon corrupt systems of religion. For ex- 
ample, the preaching of Luther and other re- 
formers in the sixteenth century could well be 
illustrated as setting fire to the whole system of 
papal religion. '*I will make my word in thy 
mouth fire and this people wood, and it shall de- 
vour them.*' Of course, we are not to under- 
stand this literally, but such figuratively was the 
effect of the preaching during the Reformation. 
The power and dominion of Rome was largely 
taken away, and honest souls held within her 
deceptive fold were led out into clear light. And 
so in this evening time, as the judgments of 
truth that were executed in the clear morn- 
ing of the Christian era are restored to the 
church, and the saved execute these against 
every false system of religion and even against 
false worshipers, the eff^ect is the same upon 
these as the preaching of the reformers was 
upon Rome. And as honest souls accept the 
preaching of the pure gospel, they will be led 
to renounce the false and corrapt systems in 
which they have been held and come out into 
clear light. 

This consuming and destructive work against 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 453 

false religions has been going on for some time, 
and the whole realm of sectism has to some ex- 
tent felt its withering effect ; but I am sure that 
in a deeper and broader sense will the whole 
realm of apostate religion be made to feel the 
burning effects of the pure gospel of Jesus 
Christ. Not only will apostate Christianity be 
made to feel this, but as the pure gospel goes to 
all nations, false religions of every kind will 
be affected by it; and as people renounce these 
and accept Christianity, in this sense the do- 
minion of false religions will be taken away. 
This blessed work will continue ^^ until the end." 
We have reached the evening light— the res- 
toration of the whole truth, and in this is com- 
prehended full salvation from all sin and false 
religion, a pure church restored and an enjoy- 
ment of all the rich blessings of the kingdom 
of Christ. ^^And the time came that the saints 
possessed the kingdom." Verse 22. Thank 
God! we have reached that time. In the morn- 
ing-light age the kingdom of God, as we have 
seen, spread over the entire Roman empire and 
Christianity conquered paganism therein. That 
was the then-known world. But after the great 
apostasy, when we reach the evening-light age 



454 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

of the church and the saints again possess the 
kingdom, "the kingdom and dominion, and the 
greatness of the kingdom under the whole 
heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints 
of the Most High" (verse 27). Yes, ^^ dominion, 
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, na- 
tions, and languages should serve him, ' ' Verse 
14. That is, in all the earth in all nations where 
the gospel is destined to go, there will be found 
disciples of Jesus offering praise and honor 
and glory to his matchless name. Here, then, 
we have the glorious triumph of Christianity 
set forth. It becomes universal. In this sense 
the church of God, the saints, the beloved city, 
shall have the dominion under the whole heaven. 
Christ will have true disciples among all peo- 
ple, nations, and languages ; and they shall serve 
him. This state of things shall continue until 
the end. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 455 

Gog and Magog; or^ The Final Conflict. 

Tte events in the closing years of this dis- 
pensation will be very similar to those in its 
beginning. History shall repeat itself. Back in 
the morning-light age of the church Christian- 
ity opposed every false religion. This was una- 
voidable, for in its very principles it stands op- 
posed to every false way. As Christianity 
spread principally throughout the pagan Roman 
empire, its effects were mostly felt there. As 
will be the case in these last days, the pagan 
systems of religion went crashing to pieces be- 
fore the onslaughts of Christianity. Back there 
this was confined to Rome, while in this evening 
time it will be universal, all over the world. 

In Revelation 12, as fully considered in pre- 
vious chapters, after Christianity cast down the 
dragon— paganism throughout the Roman em- 
pire —''he persecuted the woman ' ' -- church 
(verse 13). The dragon became ^^ wroth with 
the woman, and went to make war witli the rem- 
nant of her seed" (verse 17). As tlie pagan 
systems were overthrown and Christianity 
spread throughout the entire Roman empire, 
the devotees of these false systems, seeing their 



456 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

religions crumbling, became very wroth, and in 
order to stop the onward progress of the gos- 
pel they inaugurated a bitter persecution 
against the Christians, or church of God. The 
same will be true in these last days— only at this 
time all religions of earth will be united in the 
opposition. 

With the restoration of the pure church of 
Grod and Christianity to its primitive glory, they 
stand opposed not only to the pagan systems 
but to every false and corrupt system of apostate 
Christianity. This includes the Catholic sect 
and all Protestant sects. As the devotees of all 
these false systems see their religions crumb- 
ling, they will do just what the pagans did 
throughout the Roman empire in the beginning : 
they will unite in a general opposition against 
the pure church of God. The shattered rem- 
nants of all these counterfeit religions will unite 
in confederation. 

^^And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of 
the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of 
the false prophet. For they are the spirits of 
devils, working miracles, which go forth unto 
the kings of the earth and of the whole world. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 457 

to gather tliem to the battle of that great day 
of God Almighty. ' ' Rev. 16 : 13, 14. While the 
Lord is miistering his host upon the high plains 
of Armageddon (Rev. 16:16) in this beauti- 
ful evening light, the spirits of devils will gather 
together the conquered and defeated factions of 
all other religions in a general confederation 
and opposition to the burning truth of God and 
the true saints who stand in its defense. This 
is the last great spiritual conflict. The dragon 
here is Paganism, the beast is Romanism, and 
the false prophet is Protestantism. We have 
seen in a previous chapter that the second beast 
of Revelation 13 represents Protestantism. 
This second beast and what is elsewhere in sym- 
bol termed the ^^ false prophet" are identical. 
(Compare Rev. 13:11-15 and Rev. 19:20.) 
Here, then, we have heathenism (the dragon), 
Popery (the beast), and Protestantism (the 
false prophet) all gathered together by spirits 
of devils in opposition to the true church of 
God. 

We have seen that God is gathering his peo- 
ple out of all the maze of false religions, out 
of all Protestant sects as well as out of the 
Catholic sect. The church thus gathered out 



458 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

now stands in square opposition to all sect-re- 
ligions, and, thank God, it has ^dctory over them. 
This victory of the church in the evening light 
is seen in the book of symbols as follows : ' ' And 
I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with 
fire [the pure Word and holiness of God] : and 
them that had gotten the victory over the beast, 
and over his image, and over his mark, and over 
the number of his name, stand on the sea of 
glass, having the harps of God." Rev. 15:2. 
My brethren, ^^we have reached an awful era 
in the onward sweep of time.'' The greatest 
victory that the church is ever to enjoy or win 
is here. She will conquer the nations, and rule 
them with a rod of iron. But this will also in- 
cur a tremendous opposition from the shattered 
remnants of all the defeated and fallen relig- 
ions of earth, just before the end. There will 
be a confederation of all these, in a last attempt 
to turn back the onward-sweeping tide of Chris- 
tianity. Obsei^e that these spirits of devils 
gather the ^^ whole world"; that is, not only 
Catholics, Protestants, and the devotees of the 
various pagan systems, but also Mohammedans 
and the adherents to every false system of earth. 
It is evident that this will take place just be- 



ITS KISE AND PROGRESS. 459 

fore the end. When Christianity shall have 
spread over the entire world and every nation 
of earth shall have been affected by the blessed 
influence of the gospel ; when the church of Grod 
shall have arisen in her power and glory, out- 
shone every institution on earth, and become in 
reality ^^the light of the ivorld^' \ when the saints 
shall have come into possession of the ^^ domin- 
ion under the whole heaven," and every false 
religion have come under the consuming fire of 
eternal truth, then, as a last desperate effort, 
this confederation of all the false and corrupt 
systems of religion will prepare to crush the 
church of God. This they may attempt to do by 
one final stroke of bloody martyrdom. But be- 
fore they can accomplish their purpose, the 
whole will end with the ushering in of ^Hlie 
great day of God Almighty." This is Christ's 
coming and judgment. 

This same conflict is brought to view in Rev. 
20 : 8, 9. Here the dragon-spirit goes out ' ' to 
deceive the nations which are in the four quar- 
ters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather 
them together to battle." The original signifi- 
cation of the terms ''Gog" and ''Magog" is 
difficult to ascertain, as all known accounts are 



460 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

conflicting. The terms occur in Ezekiel 38 and 
39 also. In Revelation 20 these terms are used 
metaphorically to signify all the enemies of the 
church of God and opposers of true Chris- 
tianity. 

It is a fact that at this very time, when the 
Lord, by his Spirit, is assembling his hosts for 
the grand, final, and universal advance against 
sin, idolatry, and false religions, the devil is 
already paving the way for the union of all 
false systems of religion on earth, when Chris- 
tianity shall have triumphed. The World's 
Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893 
marked an important epoch in this latest shift 
infernal. The dragon, the beast, and the false 
prophet met in ^^ mutual confidence and re- 
spect," a ''brotherhood" of religions. Theism, 
Judaism, Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Bud- 
dhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, 
Zoroastrianism, Catholicism, the Greek church, 
and Protestantism in many forms were all rep- 
resented ; and the delegates of all these religions 
met, as they said, ''to unite all religions against 
all irreligion ; to make the golden rule the basis 
of this union; and to present to the world sub- 
stantial unity of many religions/' I will here 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 461 

give extracts from addresses made before the 
Parliament. 

President Charles Carroll Bonney said in 
the opening address: ^'Worshipers of God and 
lovers of men: Let us rejoice that we have lived 
to see this glorious day; . . . that we are per- 
mitted to take part in this solemn and majestic 
event of a World's Congress of Religions. The 
importance of this event can not be overesti- 
mated. Its influence on the future relations of 
the various races of men, can not be too highly 
esteemed. If this Congress shall faithfully 
execute its duties with which it has been 
charged, it shall become the joy of the whole 
earth, and stand in human history like a )iei(' 
mount Zion, crowned with glory, and marking 
the actual beginning of a new epoch of brother- 
hood and peace. For when the religious faiths 
of the world recognize each other as brothers , 
children of one Father, whom all profess to love 
and serve, then, and not till then, will the na- 
tions of the earth yield to the spirit of concord 
and learn war no more. We meet on the moun- 
tain height of absolute respect for the religious 
convictions of each other. . . . This day the sun 
of a new era of religious peace and progress 



462 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

rises over tlie world, dispelling the dark cloud 
of sectarian strife. It is a brotherhood of relig- 
io7is/^ 

Chairman John Heniy Barrows spoke thns 
in his address: ^^We are here not as Baptists 
and Buddhists, Catholics and Confucians, Par- 
sees and Presbj'terians, Methodists and Mos- 
lems ; we are here as m^embers of a Parliament 
of Religions, over which flies no sectarian flag, 
. . . but where for the first time in a large coun- 
cil is lifted up the banner of love, fellowship, 
brotherhood. . . . Welcome, one and all, thrice 
welcome to the world's first Parliament of Re- 
ligions ! Welcome to the men and women of Is- 
rael, the standing miracle of nations and relig- 
ions ! Welcome to the disciples of Prince Sid- 
dartha, the many millions who cherish their 
Lord Buddha as the light of Asia ! Welcome to 
the high priests of the national religion of Ja- 
pan! This city has every reason to be grate- 
ful to the enlightened iniler of 'the Sunrise King- 
dom.' Welcome to the men of India, and all 
faiths ! Welcome to all the disciples of Christ. 
... It seems to me that the spirits of just and 
good men hover over this assembly. I believe 
the spirit of Paul is here. I believe the spirit 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 463 

of the wise and humane Buddha is here, and of 
Socrates the searcher after truth. . . . When a 
few days ago I met for the first time the dele- 
gates who have come to ns from Japan, and 
shortly after the delegates who have come to us 
from India, I felt that the arms of human broth- 
erhood had reached almost around the globe." 
—World's Parliament of Religions, chap. III. 
Since this great Parliament of Religions there 
have been a number of such gatherings. This 
is but paving the way for the last great con- 
flict. I have observed that, no matter how much 
the sects were quarreling among themselves, 
whenever we went into their midst with the 
whole gospel and God's people were gathered 
out, the sectarians suddenly became friendly 
toward each other and began to hold union meet- 
ings in opposition to the truth. If the corrupt 
and false religions of earth can never agree on 
anything else, they will, and are, agreeing, to 
oppose the true church of God and the truth 
advocated by it, which is destined to ^^ consume 
them to the end." The devil is mustering his 
hosts— Pagan, Mohammedan, Catholic, and 
Protestant sects — in one ^^ graurl hrotlievlwod of 
religions^^—Gog and Magog. 



464 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

^^And they went up on the breadth of the 
earth, and compassed the camp of the saints 
about, and the beloved city. ' ' Eev. 20 : 9. The 
camjD of the saints, the beloved city, is none 
other than the pure church of God gathered 
out of all false religions in these last days. Such 
is the very host that John saw on the sea of 
glass mingled with fire; and they had victory 
over all false religions (Eev. 15:2, 3). The 
hosts of hell, in order to compass the camp of 
the saints, ^^went up on the breadth of the 
earth." This signifies the universality of the 
church of God. or Christianity. It will be every- 
where—all over the world. Therefore all false 
religions will unite in a confederation that will 
be universal, and the opposition to the church 
of God will be universal. In the midst of this 
final conflict fire will come down from heaven 
and destroy them (Eev. 20: 9). This ushers in 
^^the great day of God Almighty." ''And to 
you who are troubled rest with us, when the 
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with 
his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking ven- 
geance on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 
who shall be punished with everlasting destrue- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 465 

tion from the presence of the Lord, and from the 
glory of his power; when he shall come to be 
glorified in his saints, ... in that day. ' ' 2 Thess. 
1:7-10, 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 467 

The End of All False Religions and of Their 
Devotees. 

We have seen that the final conflict between 
the pure church of God and all other religions 
of the world will end in the ^^ great day of God 
Almighty. ' ' This will be ushered in by the com- 
ing of Christ in flaming fire from heaven, at 
which time all the wicked will be punished with 
everlasting destruction from the presence of 
the Lord and the glory of his power. ' ' And the 
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake 
of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false 
prophet are, and shall be tormented day and 
night forever and ever. ' ' Rev. 20 : 10. " The 
beast that thou sawest was, and is not ; and shall 
ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into 
perdition. ' ' Rev. 17 : 8. ' ' I beheld even till the 
beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and 
given to the burning flame." Dan. 7: 11. 

In Rev. 19 : 11-16 is a grand picture of the sec- 
ond coming of Christ. When he comes, he finds 
the beast and the allied armies gathered together 
to war against him and his army (verse 19). 
When all false religions of earth gather in op- 
position against the church of God, they are 



468 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

fighting- Christ and all heaven, for his church 
is one in heaven and on earth. Christ's second 
coming will clearly reveal this fact. He will 
appoint them all to the great slaughter (verses 
17, 18). 

'^And the beast was taken, and with him the 
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, 
with which he deceived them that had received 
the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped 
his image. These both were cast alive into a 
lake of fire burning with brimstone." Rev.' 
19 : 20. ^ 'If any man worship the beast and his 
image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or 
in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine 
of the wrath of God, which is poured out with- 
out mixture into the cup of his indignation ; and 
he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone. 
. . . And the smoke of their torm^ent ascend- 
eth up forever and ever." Rev. 14:9-11. ''And 
after these things I heard a great voice of much 
people in heaven, saying. Alleluia; Salvation, 
and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord 
our God: for true and righteous are his judg- 
ments: for he hath judged the great whore, 
which did corrupt the earth with her fornica- 
tion, and hath avenged the blood of his servants 



ITS EISE AND PEOOEESS. 469 

at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And 
her smoke rose np for ever and ever." Eev. 19: 
1-3. ^^The wicked shall be turned into hell, and 
all the nations that forget God/' Psa. 9: 17. 

The foregoing texts clearly teach the eter- 
nal destiny of all beast worshipers and false re- 
ligionists. The nations that forget God— men- 
tioned in the last text— are the pagans who have 
not retained God in their knowledge. The beast 
in some of these texts refers to the entire apos- 
tate church, with all its adherents. In other 
texts the beast and false prophet are both re- 
ferred to, for these cover every form of apos- 
tate and corrupt religion. All these, in the great 
day of judgment, will be cast into ' ' perdition, ' ' 
' ' the burning flame, " ^ ^ the lake of fire and brim- 
stone"; and in that awful place of punishment 
they will be ^^ tormented forever and ever." 
This final destiny is termed ^Miell." So posi- 
tively teaches the seven clear texts of Scripture 
at the head of this chapter, and the Word of God 
can not be broken. 

Christianity, like an angel, a dove of purity, 
came from heaven, and is divine. B(M]ii»' from 
heaven, the church of God shall retui'ii ilioio iu 
the last day. But all other religious, whether 



470 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH; : 

Pagan, Mohammedan, or apostate Christian, in- 
cluding all Catholic and Protestant sects and 
creeds, ^^ ascended out of the bottomless pit" 
(Rev. 11:7; 17:8) ; that is, are of hellish ori- 
gin. Therefore in the last day all these will go 
back to the place from which they emanated. 
In the day of judgment all beast worshipers 
and false religionists, the entire host of apos- 
tates, and all wicked men and devils will be cast 
into the lake of fire.* 



I 



*For a thorough work on the eternal destiny of the wicked 
see my book, ''Man, His Present and Future/' price 50c; or 
''Hell and Everlasting Punishment/' price lOe. Both are sold 
by the publishers of this book. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 471 

The Eternal Home of the Church. 

The church of Grod is from above. It is the 
holy Jerusalem which ^^came down from God 
out of heaven. ' ' Ages before it appeared upon 
earth, it was prepared in the plan of God, and 
hid in his infinite wisdom and knowledge. It 
cast its shadow upon earth in the form of the 
Jewish sanctuary. As there must be a sub- 
stance to produce a shadow, the church already 
existed. When the fulness of time came, it came 
down to earth. Its builder, head, door, foun- 
dation, and governor came from heaven. Its 
law, the truth, ^^came by Jesus Christ." Its 
garments of salvation are from God. Its mem- 
bers are all born ' ' from above. " It is animated 
with ''the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." 
The conversation of all its members "is in 
heaven. ' ' Their names ' ' are written in heaven. ' ' 
Their affections are ^^ fixed on things above, not 
on things on tlie earth." This is the heavenly 
Jerusalem. 

Being a spiritual, divine, and heavenly church, 
denominated '^the kingdom of heaven," its af- 
finities and attractions are all heavenward. ''Set 
your affections on things above, not on tliiugs on 



472 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

the earth.'' The mind and heart of the Chris- 
tian is naturally reaching out into the eternal 
world. Earth loses its attraction. Its rubies 
and diamonds, its silver and gold, lose their 
luster and brilliancy, as the Christian, with an 
eye of faith sees his riches in heaven. He be- 
holds the sparkling jewels, the unsearchable 
riches of Christ that await him over there. As 
he presses foi-ward toward the joy set before 
him, earth's attractions fade away. Xone but 
the earthly-minded desire to remain here. Xone 
but those who are void of spiritual life, desire to 
make this their eternal home. Man is bom for 
a higher destiny than that of earth. There is 
a realm where the rainbow never fades : where 
the stars will be spread out before us like 
islands that slumber upon the ocean : and where 
the beautiful beings which here pass before us 
like visions will stay in our presence forever. 
The patriarchs and saints of old ''confessed 
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the 
earth"' (Heb. 11:13). They understood that 
this was not their destiny, their final abode. Da- 
vid, who reigned over Israel and inherited the 
Promised Land, says, ^'I am a stranger with 
thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were." 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 473 

Psa. 39 : 12. They were strangers in the earth, 
even in the land which they received for an in- 
heritance; only pilgrims sojourning here for a 
short time. Paul says they were seeking a conn- 
try, ^^a better country, that is, a heavenly" 
(Heb. 11:14, 16). 

Not only was this true of the Old-Testament 
saints, bnt Peter denominates the New-Testa- 
ment church ^^as strangers and pilgrims," who 
are^ ^ sojourning here " (1 Pet. 2 : 11 ; 1 : 17 ) . ' ' For 
here have we no continuing city, but we seek 
one to come." Heb. 13 : 14. ^^For he hath pre- 
pared for them a city. ' ' Heb. 11 : 16. All these 
scriptures point us away from this earth to ^^ an- 
other country" — yes, to a ^^ better country," 
^^an heavenly." We are only sojourners here. 
We are traveling to another clime, another 
sphere of existence, a brighter realm. Our short 
pilgrimage upon earth is compared to a hand- 
breadth, an eagle hastening to his prey, a swift 
post, a dream, a shadow, a vapor. Time with 
gigantic footsteps is bearing us to eternity. Life 
is soon cut down, ^^and we fly awa)\" *^ Be- 
cause man goetli to his long home." Ecel. 12: 
5. ^^T'o his eteiTial home."— LXX. 

That ^^ eternal liome" is not this eartli, as the 



474 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

worldly-minded vainly hope, but is ^^a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" 
(2 Cor. 5:1). Yes, in heaven, the place of God's 
throne and the home of the angels. There is an 
eternal heaven above, which Paul terms the 
^Hhird heaven" (2 Cor. 12:2-4). First, the 
church is now raised up on the plane of heaven's 
purity, and all its members are made to ^*sit to- 
gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 
Then again, the atmosphere which surrounds 
this earth is frequently in Scripture called ' ' the 
heavens." These will pass away with this earth. 
But there is a third heaven, a place where God 
now dwells. '^The Lord he is God in heaven 
above. ' ' Deut. 4 : 39. '' The Lord is in his holy 
temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven." Psa. 
11 : 4. Heaven is also the home of the angels. 
^'For in the resurrection they neither marry, 
nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels 
of God in heaven." Matt. 22:30. ^^So then 
after the Lord had spoken unto them, he 
was received up in heaven, and sat on the 
right hand of God." Mark 16:19. ^^Wlio 
is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand 
of God; angels and authorities and powers be- 
ing made subject unto him." 1 Pet. 3: 22. ^^For 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 475 

Christ is not entered into the holy places made 
with hands, which are the figures of the true; 
but nnto heaven itself, now to appear in the 
presence of God for us." Heb. 9:24. 

All these texts, with many others, clearly 
teach that there is a place called heaven. There 
can be no appeal from this fact. When Stephen 
was dying, it is said that he ^ looked up stead- 
fastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, 
and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 
and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and 
the Son of man standing on the right hand of 
God." We shall now prove that this place will 
be the eternal home of the church. 

^^ While we look not at the things which are 
seen, but at the things which are not seen: for 
the things which are seen are temporal : but the 
things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 
4:18. Paul here speaks of things which are 
^^ temporal" (proskaros), for a season or time 
only; and then he speaks of things ^^ eternal 
(aionios), without end, as the eternal Spirit 
(Heb. 9: 14). Those things whicli we see with 
our natural eyes are only temporal. They are 
things which have a short duration, must have 
an end. ^^The things which are seen are tern- 



476 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

poraP '—temporary, existing for a time only. 
That includes this earth and all that pertains to 
it. All nature teaches this fact. The grass cov- 
ers this earth with a beautiful and verdant car- 
pet, but the time comes when it withers and 
molds away. The leaves which come forth and 
cheer our hearts in springtime turn to a golden 
hue when the autumn winds blow, fall to mother 
earth, and there decay. The sturdy oak, in 
whose branches the fowls of the air lodge, soon 
decays and is no more. The same lesson is 
taught in the animal kingdom. Our mortal bod- 
ies return to dust, to mother earth. 

Everything around us teaches us ^^the end of 
all things ' ' pertaining to earth. The earth itself 
is one of the things which we see, and Paul posi- 
tively declares that all we see is temporal, must 
have an end. This earth will pass away. Both 
the Old and New Testaments teach this fact. 
^^Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the 
earth: and the heavens are the work of thy 
hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt en- 
dure." Psa. 102:25, 26. ''Lift up your eyes 
to the heavens, and look upon the earth be- 
neath; for the heavens shall vanish away like 
smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a gar- 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 477 

ment. ' ' Isa. 51 : 6. ^' The earth is utterly broken 
down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is 
moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and 
fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like 
a cottage; ... it shall fall, and not rise again." 
Isa. 24 : 19, 20. In these texts is foretold the 
^^end of this world.'' This planet called the 
earth shall ^'wax old" and '^ shall perish." It 
shall be '^ clean dissolved," ^^and shall be re- 
moved like a cottage" ; ^4t shall fall and not rise 
again." So positively teaches the Word of 
God. When we come over into the New Testa- 
ment we have this same fact taught, if any- 
thing, more clearly than in the Old. Jesus said, 
^^Till heaven and earth pass." Matt. 5: 18. In 
the very commencement of his ministry, Jesus 
Christ teaches the instability of all visible 
things. The heavens which you see and which 
are so glorious, and the earth which you inhabit, 
shall pass away; '^for the things which are seen 
are temporal,'^ From the lips of Jesus we hear 
the solemn words, ^^ Heaven and earth shall 
pass away." Matt. 24:35.^ ^^The end of all 
things is at hand." 1 Pet. 4:7. From the be- 
ginning God has meted out this world's career. 
Otoe long age has succeeded another, until wo 



478 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

have reached the ^^last daj^s" of its history. A 
small step before us is the end of '^all things'^ 
pertaining to earth. 

But when will all this take place? Answer: 
^^And I saw a great white throne, and him that 
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the 
heaven fled away ; and there was f onnd no place 
for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, 
stand before God; and the books were opened: 
and another book was opened, which is the book 
of life: and the dead were judged ont of tho^e 
things which were written in the books, accord- 
ing to their works. And the sea gave up the 
dead which were in it; and death and hell de- 
livered up the dead which were in them: and 
they were judged ever^^ man according to their 
works. And death and hell were cast into the 
lake of fire. This is the second death. And 
whosoever was not found written in the book of 
life was cast into the lake of fire." Rev. 20: 
11-15. This is verj^ clear. The coming of Christ 
upon the great white throne (the throne of his 
glory. Matt. 24: 31), the coming forth of all the 
dead from land and sea, all peop' o being judged, 
and the wicked cast into the lake of fire— this 
will be the time when this earth will pass away 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 479 

and ^^no place be found for it." Let all our 
readers prepare for the catastrophe; for as 
truly as God has spoken, it will come. The 
^^ heavens" in these texts refer to aerial heav- 
ens. We will next consider the manner of its 
passing away. 

^^But the heavens and the earth, which are 
now, by the same word are kept in store, re- 
served unto fire against the day of judgment 
and perdition of ungodly men. . . . But the day 
of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in 
the which the heavens shall pass away with a 
great noise, and the elements shall melt with 
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that 
therein are shall be burned up. Seeing then 
that all these things shall be dissolved, what 
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy 
conversation and godliness, looking for and hast- 
ing unto the coming of the day of God, wherein 
the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and 
the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" 2 
Pet. 3:7-12. How clear this testimony! Not 
only will the works in this earth be consumed, 
but the earth itself ^^ shall be buraed up," 'Mis- 
solved," and ^* melted with fervent heat." That 
day of fire which shall consume this earth, "\\w 



480 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

day of judgment and perdition of ungodly 
men," will be the day of the Lord's second ad- 
vent (verses 4, 10). The ''end of all things" 
does not mean a renovation of this earth; but 
an utter consuming, and melting of the same into 
the same chaotic state in which its matter ex- 
isted before the six days of creation. 

''The Scriptures very clearly teach that 
Christ will come in the end of the world, in the 
last day of this last age of time. They also in- 
form us that the same will be the day of judg- 
ment. And here Peter tells us plainly that on 
that very day of his coming and the judgment, 
the heavens and the earth will be consumed, 
'melted, and destroyed. So it will indeed be the 
end of the world, the close of all time allotted 
to this earth. ' ' 

Since man will have an eternal existence, and 
as we see, this earth shall pass away and be no 
more, it can not be his eternal home. "The 
things which are not seen are eternal/' Our 
eternal home is something we can not now see. 
Where, then, is it located? The Word plainly 
answers: "For we know that if our earthly 
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
have a building of Grod, an house not made 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 481 

with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Cor. 
5:1. 

When time has run its course; when the sun 
and moon have ceased to shine ; when all things 
pertaining to earth and the earth itself have 
passed away and been forgotten in the dim past, 
flien, clothed with an immortal and glorified 
body, we shall dwell in a building of God, a 
house not made with hands, ^^ eternal in the 
heavens." my soul, press forward! Pleasures 
forevermore await thee, an eternal weight of 
glory. world to come, in exchange for the 
present ! ages, for a moment ! A blessed eter- 
nal communion in the holy, blessed eternal life 
of God, in exchange for the sacrifices and suf- 
ferings of a few short years of earth. For the 
joy set before me I willingly endure hardness as 
a good soldier for Christ Jesus. Yes, gladly 
will I forsake home and loved ones to preach 
thy gospel, and in exchange receive a home 
^^ eternal in the heavens." 

Since this earth will have an end, wliat a con- 
soling thought to know ^^in ourselves that ye 
have in heaven a l)ettei' and an enduring sub- 
stance" (Heb. 10: 34). ^^ Wherefore the rather, 
brethren, give diligence to make your calling 



482 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: 

and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye 
shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be 
ministered unto you abundantly into the ever- 
lasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ." 2 Pet. 1: 10, 11. We here enter the 
kingdom of grace, and thus become prepared 
for an abundant entrance into the future and 
everlasting kingdom of glory. This is not a lit- 
eral something upon earth, as many blind zeal- 
ots imagine, but it is * ' an inheritance incorrupti- 
ble, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, re- 
served in heaven for you, who are kept by the 
power of God" (1 Pet. 1 : 4, 5). ^^ And the Lord 
shall deliver me from every evil work, and will 
preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to 
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." 2 
Tim. 4: 18. Oh blessed hope! '^ which hope we 
have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and 
steadfast. ' ' My soul rests upon the promises of 
his Word, awaiting ^^the hope which is laid up 
for you in heaven'^ (Col. 1:5). 

'^But lay up for yourselves treasures in 
heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth cor- 
rupt, and where thieves do not break through 
nor steal." Matt. 6:20. ^^Sell that ye have, 
and give alms; provide yourselves bags which 



ITS EISE AND PROGRESS. 483 

wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that fail- 
eth not, where no thief approacheth, neither 
moth corrupteth. ' ' Luke 12 : 33. " Jesus said 
unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell 
that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou 
shalt have treasure in heaven : and come and fol- 
low me. ' ' Matt. 19 : 21. If this earth were to 
be our eternal portion, then our treasure should 
be laid up here ; but since it is temporal, we are 
commanded to lay up our treasures in heaven. 
Though we may be poor in this world's goods, 
yet if we serve God we ' ' shall have treasure in 
heaven. ' ' Instead of getting our reward in this 
earth as some teach, we shall be rewarded in 
heaven. '^Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for 
great is your reward in heaven: for so perse- 
cuted they the prophets which were before you. ' ' 
Matt. 5: 12. ^^ Rejoice ye in that day, and leap 
for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in 
heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers 
unto the prophets. ' ' Luke 6 : 23. 

Surely these multiplied texts are sufficient to 
establish the fact that heaven will be the future 
and eternal home of the church. Jesus, speak- 
ing of tliat future state, said, ^'In my Father's 
house are many mansions: if it were not so, T 



484 THE CHRISTIAN CHUECH: . 

would have told you. I go to prepare a place 
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for 
you, I will come again, and receive you unto 
myself ; that where I am, there ye may be also. ' ' 
John 14 : 2, 3. In the Scriptures we have 
^^ Christ's house" and ''the Father's house"; 
Christ's kingdom of grace here, and the Fa- 
ther's kingdom of glory above. The one ap- 
plies to the earth, the other to heaven. In the 
above passage Christ speaks of our future hope. 
By the ^^ Father's house" he means heaven, for 
that is the Father's dwelling-place. Christ's 
house is the church here upon earth. By entering 
the latter we have access to the former. By 
^^ mansions" he desired the disciples to know 
that heaven, the Father's domain, was large and 
spacious. He did not wish, as sectarians be- 
lieve, to convey the idea that everybody would 
have a separate house up there ; but he resorted 
to language that his hearers could understand. 
He spoke from the standpoint of a literal build- 
ing so they could comprehend his meaning. Since 
the Father's house is so spacious, contains many 
mansions, *'I go to prepare a place for you." 
Christ went into heaven (Luke 24:51). So in 
heaven he is preparing our eternal home. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. 485 

It may be objected that it has been prepared 
rrom the fouDdation of the world (Matt. 25: 34). 
Yes, the kingdom of heaven, or heaven itself, 
was prepared from the foundation of the world ; 
but in that kingdom, Christ went to prepare a 
place for us. Again, Christ was a Lamb ^' slain 
from the foundation of the world." Yet, in 
reality, it was fulfilled when he came. So with 
the place prepared for us. Christ, in reality, 
went to prepare it for us; and the promise is 
that he will come again, not to remain here upon 
earth with us, but to receive us to himself, that 
where he is there we may be also; that is, he 
will come back and take his church home to 
glory, to the world he went to prepare. 

When will all this be fulfilled? ^'For the Lord 
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 
and with the voice of the archangel, and with 
the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall 
rise first: then we which are alive and remain 
shall be caught up together with them in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall 
we ever be with the Lord.'' 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17. 
Oh, the beauty of heavenly truth ! The church 
came out of heaven, and at last it will all be 
caught up to heaven and be ever with the Lord 



486 THE CHEISTIAN CHURCH: 

''But/' says one, ''did not Jesus teach that 
the meek 'shall inherit the earth' (Matt. 5:5)f 
The Psalmist adds, 'But the meek shall inherit 
tlie earth.' Psa^ 37: 11. How haimonize these 
scriptures?" Peter fully explains them. He 
first shows that in the day of judgment this 
terrestrial globe, this earth, will pass away by 
being burned up. He foretells its utter destruc- 
tion: "But the day of the Lord will come as a 
thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements 
shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and 
the works that are therein shall be burned up. ' ' 
2 Pet. 3:10. "What, then, about the promise 
of Jesus, that the meek shall inherit the earth I ' ' 
The apostle answers, "We, according to his 
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth/ ^ 
Verse 13. How clear! "We, according to his 
promise, look for new heavens, and a new earth" 
after the heavens and the earth that compose 
this globe are "burned up" and "pass away" 
(2 Pet. 3: 7-13). Peter is speaking of that land 
of light and bliss which Jesus went to prepare. 

Also, the Eevelator, after describing the judg- 
ment-scene, when this earth and its heavens fled 
away, "and there was found no place for them" 



ITS RISE AND PEOGRESS. 487 

(Rev. 20: 11-15), says, ^^I saw a new heaven and 
a new earth: for the first heaven and the first 
earth were passed away ; and there was no more 
sea. ' ' Rev. 21 : 1. Mark you ! He saw the new 
heaven and the new earth after ' ' the first heaven 
and the first earth were passed away." When 
did they pass away? Answer: ^^And I saw a 
great white throne, and him that sat on it, from 
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; 
and there was found no place for them. And 
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before 
God; and the books were opened: and another 
book was opened, which is the book of life : and 
the dead were judged out of those things which 
were written in the books, according to their 
works." Rev. 20:11, 12. How did they pass 
away? Answer: ^^But the day of the Lord will 
come as a thief in the night; in the which the 
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and 
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the 
earth also and the works that are therein shall 
be burned up." 2 Pet. 3: 10. 

So, then, after this earth has passed away, 
we look for new heavens and a new earth (verse 
13 ) - The new earth is tJie ' ' heavenly country, 
the '^better country" (Heb. 11: 16). The new 



488 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH: 

heaven is the ^* heavenly city/' the one *Ho 
come" (Heb. 11: 16, 13, 14). ^^ Blessed are they 
that do his commandments, that they may have 
right to the tree of life, aad may enter in 
through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. 

* ' There is a lajid where everlasting suns shed everlasting bright- 
ness, 

Where the soul drinks from the living streams which roll by 
God's high throne. 

Myriads of glorious ones bring their accepted offerings. 

Oh, how blest to look from this dark prison to that shrin©; 

To inhale one breath of paradise divine, 

And enter into the eternal home of rest, which awaits the 
sons of God!" 

The new heavens and the new earth will be 
so much grander than this that the present heav- 
ens and earth ^* shall not be remembered, nor 
come into mind'' (Isa. 65: 17) ; and, unlike the 
present heavens and earth, which shall pass 
away, the new heavens and new earth ^* shall 
remain'' (Isa. 66: 22). The golden city brought 
to view in Eevelation 21 and 22 will be the capi- 
tal of the new earth, and in it the King of heaven 
will have his throne and reign forever and ever. 
Tn that world the righteous will ^^ shine forth as 
the sun in the kingdom of their Father," yea, 
^'as the stars forever and ever." 



f 



APR \2 1912 



